The Isle's Retribution
by Jman1000000000
Summary: The daughter of Mother Gothel, the son of Shan Yu, the daughter of Madame Medusa and the son of the Queen of Hearts have all banded together to break down the barrier. Now that they've been accepted into Auradon, will anyone be able to stop them? Sequel to Revenge from the West.
1. Prologue

**On The Isle of the Lost**

"Sorry, honey, I'll see you when you get there." Geovanna Gothel told Sid Stabbington. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek, making sure her red lipstick didn't leave a stain. "Promise."

Sid left her with a goodbye hug. She scoffed and rolled her eyes when he was gone. The big brute was always such a softy. She felt hands around her waist and turned around quickly. Patrick Stabbington was behind her. He didn't see her interaction with his cousin, thankfully.

"Hey, sweetie." Geo said.

"So, I hear you got accepted to go to Auradon." Patrick said with a smile. "When are we leaving?"

 _I'm going to strangle Reggie_. _Then he might keep his mouth shut_. She thought.

"I'm so sorry, Patrick," Geo said. She willed tears to form in her eyes and collapsed into his arms. "I asked five times if you could come with me, but they said no. They said you were too dangerous." She hadn't really asked at all. But Patrick would love to think that all of Auradon somehow feared him. "I can't do this alone. I won't go. Not without you."

Patrick held her tightly. "It's okay. If anyone can break the dome, it's you. You have to go to Auradon."

Geo looked up at him. "Really?"

"Yes. I'll see you when I'm free." He said with a wink.

Geo smiled at him. "I'll make sure you do." Patrick let go of her and she kissed him on the cheek. "Promise."

When he left her alone, she stopped all the shuddering and heavy breathing and wiped the tears away. _I hate crying_. She thought. She was finally able to continue the long walk back to her mother's tower. The limo was scheduled to come soon and hopefully she could get her bags before her mom came back from her appointment at Curl Up & Dye. She slipped into the door and noiselessly climbed all the way up to her room. The top of the tower was painted red to cover up Rapunzel's paintings and Geo shared the space with all six of her sisters. Garnet was asleep so she tiptoed to her corner and shouldered her bags, almost wishing she'd asked Patrick to help her. She also grabbed a list she'd taped to the bottom of her desk and checked it one last time. Fourteen names on it, eleven of them crossed out and three with check marks next to them. Nobody had better make her regret her choice in bringing them. She'd degraded herself enough by begging King Ben to give them a "chance at redemption," and she wouldn't tolerate mistakes.

She was in the foyer, ready to leave, when a curtain was opened and her mother was revealed to be inside the previously dark room.

"Mother, I was just on my way to the hair salon to talk to you." Geo lied.

"Don't call me by my first name." Mother Gothel didn't seem convinced, given that Geo had been caught redhanded. "It'll only be four of you in Auradon. How well did that work out last time?"

"It'll be different now." Ginny said. "I have the perfect people with me and a perfect plan."

"That's debatable. You should've chose the Stabbington brothers."

"They're bumbling fools. I chose Shen Yu. The only thing that makes him an idiot is being in love with me."

"You don't want your muscle to be smart. Then you have to worry about controlling them."

"I can control Shen." Just to get under her mom's skin, she said, "Look at me, I'm irresistible."

Mother Gothel scowled. Geo had known her mom was envious of her beauty since she'd turned thirteen. She'd always been a better looking, younger version of Mother Gothel, with curlier black hair that didn't need to be dyed and none of the wrinkles. "Madam Mim's daughters would've been a better decision than Reginald Hart."

"They're too smart. I don't feel like having them turn into lions and maul me. When he has his magic, the fact that Reggie's so dumb will minimize the threat he can pose to me. And his tarot cards have helped me out too many times to ignore. Do you have a problem with Madeline going?"

"Just get out." Mother Gothel said, closing the curtain so that the room descended back into darkness. From her where she was standing in the darkness she said, "And don't bother coming back if you fail."

Geo left with a smirk on her face. Her mom couldn't deny that Madame Medusa's daughter was perfect. She was the best thief on the Isle. Geo made it to the road where she'd told everyone to gather. The limo would be here in five minutes.

"Geo," Reggie said. He had pale skin, black hair and deep red eyes. He might've looked threatening if he wasn't so completely scrawny. _Or if he could button his shirts right._ Geovanna thought. "I've been waiting here for an hour."

"You came at the time I told you?" Geo asked with surprise. "You were early."

"But I was on time." Reggie said.

"Which is early for you, so I gave you the wrong time." Geo said.

"Not this time." Reggie grinned broadly. "I'm not missing my chance to get out of here."

"Do you have your cards?"

"You bet."

"All of them?"

"Every single deck my mom gave me. Tarot, classic cards, a couple to play games in case we get bored-"

"Cool. Madeline, do you have everything you need?" Geo asked.

Maddie nodded silently. Geo could tell. The pins in the bun Maddie's red hair was rolled into weren't just accessories. They were lockpicks.

"And the things we don't need seen are hidden, right?"

She nodded again, tapping her suitcase.

Shen finally arrived. He was tall and muscular with dark brown eyes and short black hair. He went straight to Geovanna's side and tried to kiss her cheek, but she ducked out of the way.

"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous." Geo lied. She actually had four "boyfriends" that had gathered to see her off. None of them came closer than a few yards away, but they couldn't know about each other.

"Everything will be fine." Shen told her with a smile. "I'm here."

The limo finally rolled down the street, sparing her from having to force a matching smile. The driver stepped outside and opened the doors for them.

"Can you take this for me, sweetie?" Geo asked Shen. He took her bag and put it in the trunk as she entered the vehicle. When they were all inside and the doors were closed, Geo rolled up the partition.

"Auradon is so not ready for us." Reggie said, practically bouncing in his seat.

" _No, it isn't_." Geo said, a wicked smile cut across her face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here it is This story will be a sequel of Revenge to the West, but you don't technically have to read it to read this one. All you need to know is that Evie got witch powers and a magical catgirl that defends her because she trapped an evil guy in Uma's necklace but it got stuck to her against her will. Well, here it goes.**

* * *

 **In The Girls' Dorm Room**

"That was the longest hour of my life." Shen said as he plopped down on the couch, referring to the tour they'd been given

"Maybe." Geo said. "But I managed to get the four of us a meeting with King Ben."

"How?" Reggie exclaimed.

"By asking nicely." Geo said. In truth, she'd had to corner Doug-who, along with Evie, was one of their Welcome Buddies-when he was alone and burst into tears. _"I just don't feel like I can do this. The letters I got from the king said I had the potential to be good, but how could someone as awful as me ever change?_ She'd bawled. Eventually, to get her to stop crying, he'd promised that he would get Ben to reassure her himself.

"Why are we meeting the king?" Maddie asked.

"I need to get us a tour of the Auradon Royal Treasury." Geo said to all of them. "If anyone messes that up, no magic flower in the world will be able to heal what I do to you."

"Understand?" Shen asked, with a glare aimed at Reggie and Maddie. Reggie blanched and nodded quickly while Madeline just shrugged.

"I'm not the one you need to worry about." Maddie said.

"Tomorrow, we're on our best behavior." Geovanna said. " _Nothing_ can go wrong."

"So, what's the plan?" Maddie asked.

"It's not necessary for you to know it just yet." Geo said. "Just do what you're supposed to and everything will be fine. We'll free everyone back on the Isle and be celebrated as heroes. Or...villains, actually."

"If there's nothing left for us to do today-" Reggie started.

"Actually, there is." Geo said. "Do a reading."

"Now?" Reggie asked. "But you have to sleep with them under your pillow for-"

"We're in Auradon now." Geo said with exasperation. "So stop talking and make with the magic."

"But I haven't had any time to practice yet, and-"

Geo sat down on one of the couches in the room, before a table set with tea and crackers. "If I don't see cards on that table in five seconds, Shen will hold you upside-down from the balcony until you pass out from all your screaming. Right, honey?"

Shen smiled and leered at Reggie. "Your wish is my command, gorgeous."

Reggie quickly gathered his tarot cards from his bag and removed the band holding them together. They started glowing red as he expertly shuffled them and, out of instinct, he threw them up in the air. The majority of them disappeared, but ten of them fell to the table, half of them vertical and half horizontal, right on top of the others.

"What does this mean?" Geo asked as Shen and Maddie gaped. It might have been cool, but there were more important things to worry about.

"Well," Reggie said as he pointed to one pair. "This is The Fool."

"So...you?" Shen guessed.

Reggie rolled his eyes. "It represents a hero. In this situation, _the_ heroes, I'm guessing. Which would make us the villains."

"Sounds about right." Maddie said.

"And on top of it is The Wheel of Fortune. _That_ represents good odds, good fortune...basically good luck." Reggie explained.

"Not for long." Geo said.

"And, moving on to the next pair, we have The Queen of Coins." Reggie announced. "You, Madeline."

"What do I have?" Maddie asked.

"The Ace of Coins. It commonly represents new opportunities."

"Like breaking the barrier down?" Shen asked.

"I can't be sure, it's a pretty vague one."

"How helpful." Maddie's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"It's not my fault-" Reggie started.

"Next one." Geo ordered.

"Okay, The King of Swords." Reggie said, pointing to the third in line.

"Which is me, right?" Shen asked.

"Most likely." Reggie said. "On top of it is the...do I have to say this one?" He seemed scared.

"If you say I'm gonna die-" Shen started. It wasn't a bad guess. The card showed a man lying on the ground with ten swords sprouting from his back.

"No, it's just that it symbolizes...do I really have to say it?" Reggie looked at Geovanna pleadingly.

"Yes." Geo said firmly.

"It's The Ten of Swords. It represents...betrayal...treachery...pain...and endings."

Shen's face darkened. Geo quickly laid a hand on his arm to calm him down.

"It's okay, honey" Geo said quickly. "I'm sure it's just a warning that we shouldn't trust any AKs. And we should all remember it. No matter how wide they smile or how perfect their teeth are, they're our enemies."

"Yeah that's totally, absolutely, completely, entirely, utterly possible." Reggie said so fast that the sentence sounded like one long word.

"Next one." Geo commanded.

"The King of Wands." Reggie said. "Me. And I have the Death card."

Shen whistled. "And I thought mine was bad." He said as he clapped Reggie on the shoulder. "You'll be missed."

"It's not literal death." Reggie said with a sigh. "It's renewal. The ending of one thing and beginning of another."

"Oh." Shen said. "Cool."

"Who cares." Geo said with a wave of a hand. "The final one is?"

"The Empress-which must be you, Geovanna." Reggie said.

"Looks like the cards are saving the best for last. Go on."

"Yours is The Hermit." Reggie informed her. "When I see this one I'm supposed to recommend that you do some reflection. Evaluate your life and what it is you _really_ want."

"Noted." Geo said. "That all?"

"Yeah."

"Then get out. All of you." Geo ordered.

"This is my room, too." Maddie said.

"Did I ask you whose room it is?" Geo asked. "I need alone time to do some...reflection. Right, Reggie?"

When both their gazes landed on him he said, "I refuse to get between you two."

Maddie rolled her eyes and left soundlessly, as always. Shen only left after Geo promised to sneak out with him that night for some romantic evening he'd planned. Reggie was tittering with excitement as he gathered his cards, muttering under his breath about how he couldn't wait to find out what else he could do with his newfound abilities.

When she was alone, Geo sat on her bed with her scheming journal on her lap. She went over every detail of her plan and looked for any possible flaws. There were none she could see other than human-or Reggie-error, but she was mainly trying to find an answer for the question burning a hole in her mind. _When will I betray Shen. And why?_

* * *

 **In Evie and Mal's Room**

Evie was using her time in-between periods to practice her breathing. Since she'd found out she now had Wes's powers, she'd gotten angry once. The result was the entire tourney field catching fire. Even though everyone-barring Chad-was understanding, FG had suggested that she do anger management exercises to prevent any future lack of control. Mindful breathing and counting to ten. Control was essential for both her emotions and magic abilities. She timed her breaths, now, with the movements of a book she was levitating before her. Up...Down. In...Out. Up...down. In...out. Up-straight to the ground. Evie had breathed in suddenly when a clawed finger tapped her shoulder.

"What did I say about sneaking up on me?" Evie asked.

"It's not my fault you weren't paying attention." Vivianne said. "I could have been an intruder."

"Seeing as how this isn't your room and I didn't invite you in, you are."

 _Oh, stop being so rude_. Wes said in her mind.

 _Not you, too._ Evie thought. _I was kinda hoping that you'd left after a week of silence_.

 _I'm always here_. _Currently, I'm wondering if you really think cookies and smiles are gonna win over these transfer students_.

"Then it's a good thing I don't care about what you think." Evie said.

 _You have to admit you have doubts_. _Shen Yu_ did _have quite the temper_. _And don't get me started on all the things Gothel and her sisters did_.

"People can change." Evie said. "And I'm keeping a close eye on them, trust me."

"Oh, really?" Vivianne asked, plopping down on Mal's bed. "So you must know all about what happened between Geovanna Gothel and your boyfriend?"

"What do you mean?" Evie asked. "You know what? I trust him, and I won't to let you try to get into my head."

"Oh, it's nothing too bad." She said as she examined her nails. "She just turned on the waterworks until little Doug promised to set up a meeting between her friends and the king. It was pretty convincing...for people who can't hear the little skips in someone's heartbeat when they lie."

"How did you eavesdrop on them?"

"There are all kinds of hiding spaces in this school. You humans just can't fit in them."

"I told you not to use magic!"

"You need to be more specific. I interpreted it as an order not to cast spells, and I can't even do that so it didn't affect me. Besides, I'm a protector first. The four of them could pose a threat to all of Auradon, including you. And if something happens to you, something-"

"I know how it works!" Evie snapped. The seashell glowed gold as she gave her order, "Just keep the transformations to a minimum. We can't just use magic frivolously in Auradon."

 _How boring_. Wes said.

"I think you mean responsible." Evie said.

 _You know_. Wes said in the back of her mind. _With my magic, you could make the most luxurious fabrics in the world_. _For Hearts would be even bigger-_

"I won't use it selfishly. I don't even want it."

 _What about_ _to heal_? _You can go to a hospital and cure every sick man, woman and child_. _Seems selfish not to, don't you think_?

"No." Evie said assuredly. "Never."

That's how it had been the past five weeks. Wes trying to trick or coax her into using the powers she now had. It was easy to refuse at first, but he'd switched strategies each time. So she'd continued to reject each idea of the possibilities now available to her. But, each day, it got harder and harder. She couldn't shake the fear that one day she'd lose her resolve...and play right into Wes's schemes.

* * *

 **I was considering making musical numbers for this story, but there's no reason to punish you. You also can't hear the melody and stuff, but it was so bad. The first one was gonna be about Geovanna and called "Heartbreaker" but it was soooo bad that I'll stick to magic spells.**


	3. Chapter 3

**In Ben's Office**

Geo, Shen, Maddie and Reggie were led to to the king's office by Lumiere and invited to take their seats on the comfy, brown, leather couches.

"Don't screw this up." Geovanna whispered as the golden-haired servant left the room in order to greet Ben. The king entered the room, still in his school uniform, with a warm smile on his face.

Geo stood up as soon as he entered, gesturing for everyone else to follow her lead as she curtsied deeply. She looked up at him through her eyelashes and said, "It's an honor to be allowed to speak with you, your Majesty."

"Geovanna Gothel, right?" Ben guessed. "Please, call me Ben."

She gave him her signature simper. "Yes. I'm flattered you knew."

"Of course. So, you would be...Madeline Medusa?" Ben guessed, looking at Maddie.

She simply nodded and Geo stealthily elbowed her in the stomach. Then, Maddie curtsied as Geo had before and said, "Yes, you're Majesty."

"Shen Yu?" Ben looked to Shen.

"Yes." He said. When Geo looked at him out of the corner of her eye, he inclined his head and ground out, "Your Majesty."

"And that would make you Reginald Hart, right?" Ben asked Reggie.

Reggie bowed gracefully, lowering his head as he said, "Yes, your Majesty."

 _Oh, right,_ Geovanna thought, _He_ is _a prince._

Ben sat down and Reggie did the same. The rest of the group followed, sitting down on the couch across from his armchair.

"I heard that you guys were having reservations about coming here." Ben said with concern. "Is there anything I can do to make you feel more at place?"

"It's just that we're having a hard time adjusting." Geo said, her face quickly contorting with worry. "All our lives we were taught to scheme, and covet, and seek power. Right?"

Shen, Reggie and Maddie all agreed.

"But here we have to take classes about goodness." Geo said. "People smile when you pass them on the street. It's just...we're not meant to be here?"

"I understand that you feel out of place, but it gets easier." Ben said encouragingly. "Mal, Carlos, Evie, Freddie, Dizzy. They didn't feel at home here immediately, but they've adjusted to life in Auradon. Trust me, it just takes time."

"But they had things to offer." Geo said, spacing out her blinks in order to dry her eyes out. It always made summoning tears easier, along with making her eyes water so it looked like she was fighting them. "Evie's a fashion designer, Jay's a tourney star, and Dizzie's given everyone makeovers. Mal saved the entire country. Twice. But what can...what can any of us offer?" That's when she finally let the tears fall, turning her face away so that it looked like she was ashamed to lose control in such a setting. Maddie gave her a handkerchief and Shen patted her back. Geo absolutely despised physical contact, but... _for the plan_ she told herself.

"I...I'm sorry." Ben said. "Do you need a second?"

Geo willed the tears to stop and wiped her face, still breathing heavily. "No, I'm fine. I'm so sorry for...for crying, and wasting your time, and-" She brought the tears back.

"No." Ben said. "It's completely fine. I'm always here for those who need me."

Geo smiled at him, turning the tears back off.

"You guys are more than your upbringing." Ben said. "What do you enjoy? Something completely unrelated to what your parents taught you?"

"Ooo, I like chess. Oh, and cooking, and-" Reggie stopped when Geovanna looked at him. Her expression wasn't malicious, but her eyes had a way of showing her true feelings when she wanted them to. The gray became as steely as her dagger.

"That's good." Ben said with a smile. "You could help in the cafeteria if you want. And we have a chess club. Doug is your welcome buddy, and he's the president. I'm sure he'd be thrilled if you join."

Reggie nodded silently and glanced at Geo warily. He knew it was rude not to respond verbally-especially to royalty-but he didn't want to dig his grave any deeper.

"I-"Geo gave a rattled breath"-I like planning things. Like parties and things like that."

"We have an event planning committee on campus." Ben said excitedly. "And, coincidentally, we've got an opening we've been scrambling to fill after three members had to drop out for the year."

"Oh?" Geo asked, feigning surprise. "Why'd they do that?"

"It's weird." Ben said with a frown. "They accidentally had sushi that wasn't prepared right. They got really sick and had to be sent home."

"How awful!" _That I didn't have time to do something worse._ She thought. "But I would like to join if it's possible."

"It most definitely is. I'm sure they'll be happy to have the help."

Geo grinned. _Step one: complete_.

* * *

 **Evie's Perspective in November**

Evie and Mal had decided to skip today's field trip in order to do some studying for an exam in their Advanced Manners and Mathematics class.

"Giving an exam right before the break is honestly the evilest thing I can imagine." Mal said as she wrote out her flash cards.

"Totally." Evie said with a chuckle as she observed the way to properly drink tea with one hand and write out an algebra problem with the other. "I don't know any curse that can cause this much suffering."

"Which is why I'm going on a snack break." Mal said as she stood up. "Want something?"

"No, I'm fine." Evie said.

"That was a test." Mal said over her shoulder as she left the room. "It's 'No, but thank you for your consideration.'"

Evie sighed and added that to her notes. She felt a draft and looked at the window. It was supposed to be closed, but it was wide open. She sighed even heavier than before, "Vivianne?"

"Aw, I was trying to scare you." Vivianne said from behind her.

Evie turned around in her chair. "I have too much work to do right now-"

"I have information for you."

"What is it now?"

"You know the field trip that everyone went on today? To the treasury."

"Yeah. It was a great idea, we've never went there before. The museum was starting to get boring."

"Well, do you know whose idea it was?"

"Geovanna Gothel's. She's had a lot of fun ideas."

"Well, I overheard her telling one of her friends to take close note of the entrances and exits."

"Maybe it was in case of an emergency. You know us VKs can be...cautious."

 _Are you that foolish?_ Wes asked in her mind.

"Oh, no, not you again." Evie said with exasperation.

"Or, they're planning something bad." Vivianne said.

"Call me gullible if you want, but I've been in their position before. When I first got here, I hated how suspicious everyone was around me. Back then it might have been warranted, but people are still watching my every move out of fear that I'm gonna do something wrong. It's not a good feeling and I won't be that person for them."

"Well, they're up to something. I can feel it-or smell it-in their nervousness."

Evie looked up at the ceiling. "What are you telling me for?"

"Because whatever they're up to could put you and Wes in danger. This is usually the part where Wes comes up with a plan or something and tells me what to do next."

 _I vote we stage an accident that endangers the students and frame them for it._ Wes said. _Get them sent back to the Isle before they pose a threat_.

"I refuse to do that." Evie said. "I'm not hurting or framing anyone."

"Whatever he said, I'll do it." Vivianne said. "Then your conscience can be clear."

" _No, you won't_." Evie said, the seashell glowing faintly as she gave the order. "Just...watch them. But don't let them know you're doing it. If you see anything funny, let me know."

"As you wish, _master_." She spat the last word out like she wanted to say something a little more coarse. She then exited the room through the sill-open window.

 _So much power at your fingertips and you just waste it_. Wes said.

"Not abusing it isn't wasting it." Evie said.

 _Are you scared of what you are? Is that why you're rejecting your heritage? The gifts you have?_

"Just stop talking."

 _Or are you scared of what you can do? You're bottling up your gifts, and that never works out well. Ever wonder just who it is you'll hurt when they finally-_

"SHUT UP!" The seashell glowed as she yelled it. The entire room erupted in royal blue flames. Evie started counting. _1_. Inhale. _2_. Exhale. _3_. Inhale. And nothing happened. Her heart was still racing. The fire still burned as the smoke detectors went off. "How do I stop them?" Evie asked Wes.

 _I thought you wanted me to shut up_. Wes said in her mind.

"Please." Evie pleaded.

 _...Just say tempus and imagine the oxygen in the air being drawn away from the fire until it dies._ Wes instructed.

"Tempus." Evie said. The flames were extinguished in a second.

 _Those anger management exercises really seem to be working_. Wes said, his laughter somehow ringing in Evie's head. _Wonder what would've happened if anyone else had been in here._

It was hard to describe, but, despite being inside her head, she felt like he had one of his evil smirks plastered on his face.


	4. Chapter 4

**In the Royal Treasury That Night**

Getting inside the treasury that night had been easy enough. It would've been easier for Maddie if she'd been allowed to go alone-just sliding in down the air shaft on the roof of the building and climbing down a wall-but anyone without the experience she had wouldn't be able to make it. At least not without breaking a few bones. So, Maddie had picked the lock to let them in through the emergency exit after Reggie used a card to deactivate the alarm. This path was a lot riskier, but it was the best of the few options they had. Madeline silently crept inside, Reggie following her a little less silently.

"This is really exciting, it's like-" Reggie whispered, though his whispering voice was louder than Maddie's speaking voice would ever be.

"Shut up, you idiot." Madeline whisper-yelled at him.

He immediately pantomimed zipping his mouth and followed her as she snuck down the hallway. They saw a light coming from around the corner and Madeline motioned for Reggie to retreat back the way they'd came. While he hid, Maddie pressed herself up against the wall. As the guard passed her, she stepped out of the shadows and wrapped a leg around his throat before squeezing her thigh and calf together until she felt him pass out. She unlooped her leg and he fell to the ground. Reggie returned to her side with a card in his hand.

"Do it." Maddie whispered.

Still scared to talk after her order, Reggie silently knelt down and pressed the card to the guard's temple. It emitted a dull red glow as it drew the memory of the past minute from his mind. When he woke back up he would think he'd just tripped to the ground and return to his rounds. After he finished, Maddie beckoned him to follow her down a few more hallways. Unlike the museum, the treasury had never been renovated, barring a few alarms and locks being installed. But no cameras. It was perfect to steal from as long as they could avoid the guards, which was simple enough. During the field trip earlier, Maddie had snuck away to steal a schedule of the night shift and used it to find the quickest and least guarded route to the treasure they were looking for. Passing all the gold and gemstones without swiping them was like torture, but soon she'd be able to steal to her heart's content. Soon. They reached the door that the tour guide said contained some of the royal nations' most dangerous and valuable artifacts-magical or otherwise-and Maddie held a hand in front of Reggie to stop him. There were two guards, but Reggie was able to use a card to send them to sleep. After that, they approached and he used a card to wipe their memories while Maddie surveyed the lock. There was a keypad on one side, and the lock on the door had two glowing red lights above it. She undid her bun in order to pull out her hairpins. The thin rods were fashioned out of jewels she'd stolen with tapered ends that could fit inside any lock.

"Hurry up." Maddie whispered to Reggie.

Reggie held a blank card up in front of the keypad and ink magically appeared on the previously unmarked surface. Six numbers that Reggie typed into the keypad. One of the red lights blinked twice and turned green. Maddie inserted her hairsticks in the lock and began to work. It was a bit difficult but, after breaking into Cruella De Vil's fur closet to steal jewels, no lock in the world could stop her. The second light blinked and turned green. Maddie opened the door and they crept inside the circular room. The walls were shelves, each housing an object more interesting than the one before it. But they only needed one. Maddie grabbed it, the gold it was made of making it almost too heavy for her to carry.

"Time to get out of here." She whispered.

"I don't think so." Someone said from their position near the door. Maddie and Reggie turned around to see Evie. She took a step closer to them as she said, "What are you two doing? You're really gonna waste your chance at-?"

Evie barely had time to duck as a Maddie threw a lockpick from her sleeve at her. It was sharp enough that it got stuck in the wooden shelf behind her. Reggie pulled a card out of his pocket and it glowed white in his hands.

 _Burn that card before it paralyzes you_. Wes warned.

Reggie threw it and the nautilus shell glowed as Evie said "ignacia," setting it ablaze before it fully left his grasp. The only problem was that Maddie was now nowhere to be found. She looked around and the red-headed girl was out of sight.

 _Summon Vivianne_. Wes ordered.

 _Watch your tone._ Evie thought. But it was a good idea. "Apporime."

Vivianne appeared in whirl of smoke and fire. "Maybe next time you won't order me not to follow you-OH, NO YOU DON'T!"

She cut off her sentence to say the last part as she grabbed Maddie-who was lunging at Evie from behind with an extremely sharp lockpick aimed at her back. Vivianne kept holding Maddie's arm as she jumped into the air and locked both legs on either side of Madeline's shoulders and threw her weight to the side, sending the two toppling to the ground. Vivianne jumped back up to her feet, quickly followed by Maddie. Medusa's daughter caught a card that Reggie threw and smoke began pouring from it. Vivianne wasn't too bothered by that, however, and sniffed the air in order to tell where to aim her punch. It seemed, though, that Maddie was used to moving around without her sight. Now she was able to match each of Vivianne's blows-despite the familiar's enhanced strength and speed. Maddie ducked a punch and kneed Vivianne's stomach. Then she blocked a kick and hit her with an open palm strike.

Meanwhile, Reggie had thrown a card that unfolded and expanded until it turned into a hawk and dove at Evie.

 _Simple._ Wes said. _Nyxherre._

"Nyxherre." Evie repeated. The hawk glowed with black light as it turned back into a card and floated harmlessly down to the ground. Reggie threw another card. "Motus." She didn't need any help to know to use the motion spell. The card turned right back around and flew at Reggie, forcing him to dive out of the way as it crackled with electricity. Reggie threw a third card and Evie reused the canceling spell. But, while she said "nyxherre," Reggie threw another card with surprising quickness. It split into six others and they all landed on the ground around Evie before the hearts on them glowed red. She tried to reach outside the circle of cards, but it was like an invisible brick wall had formed around her.

"You might wanna stop." Maddie said, backing away from Vivianne as Reggie willed the smoke from the card he threw earlier to clear. Vivianne looked at Evie and saw her in the circle. More accurately, she looked at the glowing nautilus shell that now housed Wes.

"Shatra." Evie said, focusing on the circle the cards formed. She tried again, this time saying, "Nyxherre." Electricity crackled and she hissed in pain as it shocked her.

"Using magic makes the cards shock you." Reggie said like he realized he forgot his keys. "I was supposed to mention that. Wait, can you try the spells again so I can start over and say it?"

Evie tried reaching out again, but now it was like touching an electrified fence.

"And the spells that fail empower it." Reggie informed her. "So trying to touch the barrier'll shock you, too."

 _Any ideas?_ Evie thought to Wes.

 _Getting out of here: not yet_. Wes said in her head, the ice in his voice giving her a mild migraine. _Making them suffer after I'm out: yes. Starting with making Madeline regret keeping those lockpicks so close to her skull_. Fortunately, Maddie said something before the picture he sent to her mind could fully form.

"And do you wanna know the interesting part?" Maddie asked. "He can make the intensity rise."

"I can?" Reggie asked, shocked in a way that didn't need electricity.

"Yes." Maddie said. "So if you don't call your cat friend off, he'll fry you."

"I _will?!_ " Reggie exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"Yes, you will." Maddie ordered calmly, the look in her eyes saying no wasn't an acceptable answer.

"Yeah." Reggie mumbled, eyes on the ground. "I will."

"You don't have to-" Evie started.

"Three seconds." Maddie said. "Three...two...o-"

"Vivianne, don't hurt either of them." Evie ordered. The seashell couldn't force her to obey from the circle, but she knew Vivianne wouldn't risk Wes's life.

"Perfect." Maddie said. "Now let's get out of here before the guards wonder what all this noise was about. We'll take them with us. Reggie, do it."

Reggie retrieved two cards, obviously relieved at not having to follow Maddie's order. He threw one at Vivianne with a flick of his wrist and red hearts surrounded her as she was pulled inside of the card. He repeated the motion and Evie was absorbed into her own. He and Maddie then gathered the cards up and erased all signs of the encounter from the room as they left-The Ace of Hearts with a drawing of Evie's face, and The Nine of Claws with a drawing of Vivianne's both in his pocket.

* * *

 **Evie's Perspective The Next Morning**

Evie woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. She looked around the room and saw Vivianne lying on the foot of her bed. In cat form.

"What did I say about using magic to transform?" Evie asked, her voice raspy. "You have to go to class."

The cat opened her eyes to glance at Evie for a moment before returning to sleep.

 _You didn't specify a form to stick to_. Wes said in her head. _Just to keep the transformations to a minimum. I'd say I expect more intelligence from you, but..._

"I do not have time for this." Evie said, hopping out of bed. "If she wants to stay a cat, she can stay a cat. I have classes to get to."

As she chose between the two outfits she'd ironed and laid out for today-opting to switch the color blocked leggings from outfit number two to outfit number one-she had no idea about the orders Geovanna had given last night. Or the skirmish in the treasury. Or being captured. Or the memory-wiping card Reggie had been ordered to use on her. Or the stray black cat Shen had stolen.


	5. Chapter 5

**Meanwhile**

"Are you sure she can eat people food?" Reggie asked as he slid a piece of the sandwich he'd brought back from the cafeteria through the cage bars. As he set it down, Vivianne bit his finger and he pulled his hands back out. She'd been in cat form since last night and was obviously not happy about being imprisoned.

"Who cares?" Geo said dismissively. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yesyesyes, of course, yes." Reggie said quickly. Nothing annoyed Geovanna Gothel more than not being listened to. And he most definitely did not want her annoyed.

"Good. Because if you mess this up, I will scratch your eyes out with my nails." She smiled sweetly. "Please don't make me ruin a perfectly good manicure."

Reggie smiled and nodded before screaming as he was bitten again while giving Vivianne another piece of the sandwich through the bars.

"Stop feeding it." Geo ordered. Reggie immediately complied.

Shen, from his seat right next to Geo, said, "Yeah. Listen to my little evil genius before I-"

"Shen, no threats." Geo chided. "You've gotta stay in character today. Also, I need to cut your hair and give you something a little less...gray to wear. We need to get you looking as heroic as possible."

His eyes widened. "You're not gonna make me look like some prince, are you?"

"It's just for a little while." Geo said. She batted her eyelashes and said, "Please? For me?"

"Fine, for you." Shen said as he gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Thanks, sweetie." Geo said, going to her armoire and pulling out a bag of of clothes that Maddie had managed to steal on the last field trip she'd planned. Since joining the event planning committee she'd easily climbed to the position of president. Her ideas were ingenious and when elections came up, her opponent had suddenly dropped out after Reggie'd given her a tarot reading. The results weren't good, and-since she didn't know it was staged-she couldn't help but trust them. Reggie had read the fortune of nearly everyone at school, and they'd all benefited from the information. Failure is coming-study more for a test. Embrace love in your life-work up the nerve to ask that girl out. Sickness and gluttony-don't eat too much cake or you'll lose your lunch. He'd now had a line outside his room between every class of students eager for guidance. And that was a useful tool when Geo needed it.

Now, she took Shen's hand and pulled him out of his chair before handing him the bag. His usual black leather jacket and dark gray shirts weren't exactly story book hero enough for what he needed to do.

* * *

 **Shen's Perspective**

The final field trip Geo had brilliantly suggested was a trip to the Royal Menagerie of Agrabah. All the animals Genie had summoned for Aladdin's Prince Ali disguise were housed here, but the group was moving slowly through all the boring ones. None of the snakes were poisonous. The foxes were practically harmless. Shen needed something bigger, tougher, more satisfying to wrestle. Maddie had disappeared already, which he took as a good sign. He looked at Reggie and, after flinching slightly, the boy with red eyes showed him a card for an instant before it vanished again. Not magic this time, just sleight of hand. He glanced toward the front of the tour group, where Geo was. She was charming the guide, politely asking her to show everyone to the forest animal exhibit. When he saw her he couldn't help but smile. He'd known her for years, but every time he looked at her his breathe was taken away. Not just because she was beautiful, but because of who she was. Ambitious, clever and entirely unique. He felt someone bump into him and he looked to his right-actively resisting the instinct to get ready for a fight. Reggie was walking next to him, distracted by what he was looking at. Shen followed his gaze and realized he was watching Geo as well. But in his eyes there was nothing but fear and dread. Shen smiled again. He knew his view of his girlfriend didn't match anyone else's, but there was a special connection between them. He'd known that for a long time.

Shaking his head, Shen cleared his mind. They were passing through Woodland Way, the section dedicated to forest animals. And he could see the glass enclosure containing the grizzlies. He pushed his way to the front of the group, ignoring the glares and humphs he earned. As he got closer to the glass, he took a look at his target and smirked.

* * *

 **Flashback to Two Months Ago**

Geovanna had finally told the group what her entire plan was the night before the field trip to the treasury. Everything. Not just the little pieces of information and unexplained orders she'd been tossing to them like seeds to pigeons before. A few minutes before their curfew, they'd been instructed to sit down in her room and listen.

"We need to bring down the barrier. How would you go about doing that?" She waited and, when she didn't get an answer, she said, "It's not a rhetorical question. How would you do it?"

"Fairy Godmother's wand put it up." Maddie said. "Steal that and you can take the dome back down."

"Reasonable thinking, but too common." Geo said. "I looked into it and, apparently, when new VKs arrive the wand is under heavier guard than usual. After Mal and Uma tried to get it, they don't wanna risk anything."

"King Triton's trident is the only other tool with enough power to break it down." Reggie said.

Geo said, "It's in the same room as the wand, so it's too heavily guarded."

"Maleficent's scepter probably could," Reggie considered, "but it would put any of us to sleep if we touch it."

"I like the idea of that curse that got broken last year." Shen said. "Switching bodies with everyone's children. Then, the heroes can't bring themselves to harm their attackers, and we have the leverage of holding their real kids hostage."

Geo was impressed. Shen rarely showed what a cunning mind he had-drilled into him by growing up with a father who had the tactical prowess that led an army to nearly conquer China. "I like your thinking, but they can't be controlled. It would be complete chaos."

"Then what _are_ we doing?" Maddie asked.

"We're going to steal something that nobody is even thinking to defend." Geovanna said. "Something that isn't supposed to be a threat anymore."

"What?" Shen asked.

* * *

 **Geo's Perspective**

After asking nicely had failed, Geovanna had to excuse herself in order to steal a walkie talkie and pretend to be the tour guide's supervisor. The previous route had to be changed because the sprinklers were on too long and the walkways were slippery. Or was it because the train that also took visitors on tours was stuck, blocking their path? Sometimes it was hard to remember which lie she chose to tell. But that didn't matter right now. Right on schedule for once, Reggie appeared beside her.

"It's done?" Geo asked as she stopped, letting the group of students in front of her walk out of earshot as they followed the guide.

"Yep." Reggie said. "Maddie must've placed the card, I can feel it."

"I sincerely hope you don't mess this up." Geo said, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "Because if you do, I will literally...well you can probably guess that it won't be pleasant."

"I promise, it'll work." Reggie said, putting his hands in his pockets to hide their faint shaking.

"Your promises haven't always been reliable. The king, Mal, Jay, Evie, Carlos, Freddie. They're all here and if they catch on it's over."

"I said I'd-"

Geovanna shushed him as she dragged him back to the rest of the tour group. It was time. Reggie grabbed a card and held it between both his hands so that, to prying eyes, it'd seem like he just had his hands clasped in front of him. There was a quick and dull red glow from his hands as the sound of exploding glass ripped through the air.

* * *

 **Back to the Flashback**

"The Genie's lamp." Geo said.

"But he's free, right?" Reggie said.

"For now." Geo said.

"What are you thinking of doing?" Shen asked.

"Someone had to have trapped him in the lamp in the first place." Geo explained. "It can always be done again."

"But...that must have been thousands of years ago." Reggie said. "Who knows how it was done?"

"Are you forgetting how old my mom is? And how much she knows about magic objects?" Geo pulled a picture of herself off the wall. Taped to the back of it was a parchment scroll that she removed. Reggie grabbed it when she handed it to him and looked it over. His eyes widened. "This scroll is-"

"Ancient!" Reggie exclaimed.

"I was gonna say the key to locking the genie back up, but yeah."

"But it says we need the genie's enchanted shackles."

"Which are in the Royal Treasury."

"And you convinced the Activities Committee to take the students there tomorrow." Shen said with a grin. "Looks like you've been busy."

"You want me to steal the shackles during the field trip?" Maddie asked.

"No, we're just scouting today." Geo said. "You'll steal them tonight with Reggie."

Maddie rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.

"It says we need to be in the Genie's presence to trap him." Reggie said. "I'm positive that he's too strong for me to put in a card."

"I know." Geo said calmly. "So we need to catch him off guard in a casual, but private setting. Like his own home."

"How are we breaking in?" Maddie asked.

"We won't." Geo said "We'll get an invitation."

"How?" Shen asked.

"That's where you come in, handsome." Geo said with a charming smile. "We have to get to him through his daughter."


	6. Chapter 6

**Jordan's Perspective**

The trip to the menagerie was starting to get a little bit boring for Jordan. She grew up in Agrabah so she'd been here almost a hundred times. Besides, before the magic ban, her father would just poof up any pet she'd ever wanted. So, she coasted along through the tour without paying too much attention to what was going on around her. At least she did until the sound of breaking glass pierced her ears. It's a miracle the sound didn't deafen her, but what's even more remarkable is that she still had her hearing after the frightened shrieks of all the princes and princesses surrounding her.

Two grizzly bears had escaped their habitat and ran through the group, knocking over anyone who didn't get out of their way. It was chaos. Students running in every direction, trying to push through each other. Green smoke wrapped around a large portion of the group and carried them a safe distance away. Jordan looked over her shoulder and saw that it was Mal's doing. Five people turned into royal blue flames and rematerialized near the others. Evie's work, considering her necklace was glowing. With how close they were standing next to Ben, he might've given them permission to do it. Jay, Lonnie and a few of the bravest members of the Swords and Shields team tried to distract the bears while everyone ran away, but they were obviously in over their heads.

Jordan held out a hand and Lonnie turned into purple smoke as the bear swiped at her. While she couldn't transport them, Jordan was able to put them in a state where they couldn't be harmed as long as she concentrated. Now, unfortunately, she had the attention of the animals. Both bears got onto all four legs and were now barreling straight toward her. Even more unfortunately, she couldn't turn to smoke or disappear unless she was retreating to her lamp-which wasn't nearby. She tried to turn them to smoke long enough for her run, but they were a lot larger than humans-and a lot harder to metamorphize. She didn't run as they approached. She knew for a fact that they were faster than she was.

But, before they were close enough to spring forward, someone appeared in front of her. Shen Yu grabbed one bear's paw as it tried to swipe at him with its claws and heaved it over his shoulder. It stayed on the ground, unconscious. The next tried to bite him but he jumped to the side, bringing Jordan out of its range of vision. That cost him distance and the grizzly tried to claw his face. But he hit the bear with an open palm strike and it tumbled to the ground, unconscious, right next to the other one. All of that before the Swords and Shields team was even able to make it to Jordan's side and ask if she was okay. She hadn't ran away during her opening. She'd stayed, intent to help Shen if he got into deep trouble.

Jordan walked over to him and looked him up and down. For once his hair wasn't a wild mane that went to his shoulders, but tied back neatly. He was wearing a tailored gray and black suit with silver cufflinks and rings. He even smiled at her when she looked at him. _Looks like Fairy Godmother's goodness class is actually working_. She thought.

"Thank you for...saving me I guess." It was hard for her to get the words out. Thanking people was...rough sometimes.

"No need to thank me." Shen said. "It just felt like the right thing to do."

Jordan heard someone running to them and saw that Geo was sprinting toward Shen. She locked her arms around his neck and gave him the biggest hug Jordan had ever seen.

"Oh my god." Geo said through her pants. Her face was whiter than Snow White's and her breaths were faster than a thief running through the marketplace. "I...I was so scared something would happen to you."

"It's okay." Shen said reassuringly. "We're both fine."

It took a second to steel herself before Jordan told Shen, "I...um...you saved my life."

"Yeah, it was no big deal." Shen said.

Geovanna let go of Shen and looked at Jordan as the genie said, "It is to genies. I...I owe you one wish now."

Geo's eyes widened and her gaze flew to Shen-who was stoic as usual. "Really?" He asked.

"Yeah. I should warn you that I'm not able to do any big magic until I turn eighteen, so it has to be relatively small."

Shen waited a second, seeming to think about it.

"What'll it be?" Jordan asked, not even realizing that the entire day's events had been staged by the "heroes" in front of her.

* * *

 **Back to the Flashback**

"That's where you come in, handsome." Geo said with a charming smile. "We have to get to him through his daughter."

"How?" Shen asked.

"By pulling those heartstrings. And saving her from some sort of wild animal."

Shen smirked. "Now I'm interested."

"Don't get too excited." Geo said. "Reggie will use some cards to put them to sleep so that it looks like you're her night in shining armor."

"Bummer. And after that?"

"Then, I need some poison." Geo said, the glint in her eyes like light on steel.

* * *

 **At The Zoo**

"What'll it be?" Jordan asked.

"Well..." Shen started, remembering how Geo had coached him to say it "I don't want much, so-wait. I can wish for anything?"

"Not big things." Jordan clarified again.

It kind of hurt not to wish for an ultimate weapon. Or to be done with this goodie two shoes charade...Or for Geo to have more time for him between all her plotting and scheming. He said,"All I want is for me and my friends not to be alone on Thanksgiving. Everyone at school has been talking about how they're going home for the break and what kind of foods they make with their parents."

Geo willed her eyes to water as Shen hugged her closer to his side.

"There's a celebration for the VKs with Jane and FG, but I just want us to have a regular experience." Shen said.

Jordan's chest felt heavy and she realized she was starting to cry. Geo was as well, full on bawling now.

"I wish there was a way I could let you spend time with your families, but I can't." Jordan said. "If you want, I can invite you to my place."

"You really would?" Geo asked, wiping her eyes futilely as she forced the tears to continue pouring.

"Of course. It's not too special, but my dad always whips up a huge feast." Jordan said. "You can come over, I'm sure he'll love the company."

"That would be amazing." Shen said, hoping the smile on his face was believable. It was the trickiest facial expression to use. For him, at least.

"Your wish is my command." Jordan snapped her fingers, her body glowing with blue-purple light for a moment.

* * *

 **At Jordan and Genie's House on Thanksgiving**

"And then what happened?" Reggie asked.

"Well, I granted Al's wish and Jafar turned into a genie." Genie continued animatedly. "He was just over the moon until he got sucked into that lamp. And then Al said, 'phenomenal cosmic power...itty bitty living space.' It was cooler back then because I'd said it to him before."

"How fascinating." Geo said with her chin in her palms. _-ly boring_. She thought.

"I wish you could hear the stories Jafar told." Reggie said. "They were a little different."

"Are you enjoying the hazelnut soup I brought?" Geo asked as she shot Reggie a glare that clearly said "shut up."

"Yes, it's delicious." Genie said, digging his spoon into his third bowl since dinner had begun.

"Thank you." Geo said with a humble smile. She checked the time on her phone and-seeing that enough time had passed-she smiled bigger as she said, "Do you wanna know what the secret ingredient is?"

"What?" Jordan asked, her bowl already empty.

"This interesting chemical I found in my chemistry classroom that can put anyone to sleep." Geo said. "Even genies."

Genie spat out the soup in his mouth as he and Jordan's eyes went wide. "What?!" They both demanded.

"I don't remember stuttering." Geo said, her smile broadening to a wicked grin.

Genie and Jordan tried to stand, but they tumbled to the ground as soon as they left their chairs.

"Shen, Maddie, tie them to the chairs." Geo ordered quickly. "Reggie, get the cat out and get ready to take them to the museum."

Everyone jumped up to follow the orders.

 _It's almost time_. Geo thought to herself. _It's almost time_.


	7. Chapter 7

**The Museum of Cultural History**

Reggie had used the Eight of Wands to get them to the museum. It was pretty late at night when they arrived, right at the museum's entrance.

"You couldn't have gotten us closer to it?" Shen asked.

"I've never used this card before-" Reggie started to explain.

"HEY!" A guard shouted as he looked up at them. There were three of them at a desk across the room.

It had only been a few seconds since they got here, but Maddie was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, she hopped out of the shadows behind the three guards and kicked one of them in the side. Before one of the others could react, she slammed his head into the desk, knocking him unconscious. One of them reached for her, but Shen was already there. He punched the guard in the face, sending him to the ground before he knocked him unconscious with a kick. The last guard hesitated for a moment on whether to focus his attention on Maddie or Shen, and Maddie used the opportunity to hook her leg around his and sweep his feet from under him. As he fell to the ground, Shen knocked him unconscious with a punch.

While they fought, Reggie was looking at the museum directory by the door. "We need to go that way." He said, pointing to the left.

Shen and Maddie ran in the direction he indicated, Reggie following close behind. They encountered two more guards. One of them raised a hand to the walkie talkie on his shoulder and Reggie threw a card at him that glowed blue as it turned him to solid ice. The other cried out in surprise, offering Maddie a chance to sprint across the hall, jumping up and tackling her to the ground. She flipped back up to her feet and came down on the guard with a knee to the face, knocking her unconscious.

"When is there gonna be a real challenge?" Maddie wondered out loud.

"Please don't say things like that." Reggie said as they began running forward again. He told them that they needed to take a right and they turned up a staircase. When they reached the top, they found a dozen guards in front of them. If that wasn't bad enough, an alarm started blaring.

"I thought the museum wasn't as heavily guarded on holidays." Shen grumbled, throwing himself forward. He punched one guard in the face, ducking under another one that reached for him before elbowing them in the stomach.

"So did I." Maddie said as she agilely jumped up, and kicked two guards in the face as she did the splits in the air. When she landed, she rolled forward and kicked a guard's legs, knocking him off balance as she leaped back up. A guard grabbed her hand and she punched him with the other before bringing his head to her knee.

"Reggie, make yourself useful and do something with those cards!" Shen yelled as he elbowed a guard behind him and grabbed the replica of Merlin's staff from the display, wielding it like a staff.

"Oh." Reggie said in surprise. "Yeah." Sometimes it took a while to realize he actually had power here. More than anyone else in the group he supposed, but...sometimes it didn't quite feel that way. He threw a card at the ground and it flashed red before it turned into a flower.

"What was that?" Maddie demanded as she sent a guard to the ground with a roundhouse kick.

"Sorry, wrong card." Reggie explained. He grabbed three more. "Catch." He yelled as he threw two of them to Shen and Maddie, who deftly caught them from the air. He threw the third at the ground and red light flashed brightly. All the guards suddenly stopped moving, suspended in place...their bodies had turned to stone. "YES! I did it!"

"Never celebrate before you've actually stolen anything." Maddie scolded as she crossed the room to the Genie's display. Shen and Reggie followed. The lamp was locked in a blue force field, but Reggie was able to get rid of it with the Nothingness card. He reached for it but Shang swatted his hand away and grabbed the lamp himself.

"I'll be holding onto this." Shang said. If the alarm that was blaring before was loud, the one that sounded now that the lamp had been moved from its resting place was deafening. "Get us out of here!" He screamed to Reggie over the alarm.

The pounding of footsteps that came from the halls around them and the stairs made it obvious they wouldn't be escaping on foot. Reggie fumbled for his cards, silently cursing how sweaty his hands got when he was nervous.

"Do it before we get caught!" Shen yelled again.

"You mean before you two get caught." Maddie said calmly, though she said it loud enough to be heard over the alarm. "I know how to survive the drop from one of these windows."

"Got it!" Reggie pronounced. He pulled The Eight of Wands back out of his pocket and tossed it on the ground between them. Their bodies felt like they were being squashed to the ground before they bounced back up like rubber balls and disappeared.

* * *

 **Geo's Perspective**

Being left to silently contemplate everything that could possibly go wrong tonight wasn't turning out to be as bearable as Geo had thought during her planning. Pacing eventually got boring. So did sitting, lying down and exercising. She wasn't needed for the attack on the museum since they didn't need anyone to be sweet talked into doing something. And violence was too messy for her liking. She needed to talk to someone-preferably about herself. Genie and Jordan were asleep so they wouldn't make good conversation. So, completely disregarding her sanity, she settled on speaking to the cat. Reggie had to let it out of the card in order to keep his energy up for the museum so she added it to the list of hostages she was already watching.

"Look at the little protector." She said, looking it in its eyes through the bars. "I hear you caused a lot of trouble before, but now you look so...helpless."

The furball just rolled its eyes and went to sleep.

"Fine, I'll carry the conversation. So, I've been thinking a lot about what I'll do after I've brought down the barrier. I have a lot of goals to meet and there are so many ways I could become the ruler of Auradon, but all of them have too many flaws. Maybe once all the looting starts I should find some ancient, powerful weapon that'll make me some kind of supreme ruler. But...that's a little too direct. I need something insidious. Something more my style. First thing I need is for the villains to underestimate me. They'll see me as a threat after I bring down to barrier, so I need to seem like my mother's daughter in all the wrong ways. Spread the word that this was all my mom's plan and I'm just the superficial girl that was lucky enough to succeed. Then, my mom gets the envy-and contempt-of all the villains from the Isle and while they're dealing with her, I'll be able to swoop in and take charge..."

* * *

 **Evie's Perspective**

Evie _had_ been proud of her control over her emotions. Until today. Before she'd left for the cottage in the woods to celebrate Thanksgiving with Doug and his family, Chad had caught her outside the school doors. As usual, there were no nice words. She'd been able to control herself until he'd said, "Even a loser like Doug deserves better than a VK." It was sort of a blur after that. She'd meant to slap him, but somewhere along the way she'd set his eyebrows on fire. It wasn't too funny until after she'd managed to put it out-with no help whatsoever from Wes. She'd apologized and tried to repair the damage, but Chad just stormed off. It was going to be a mess when she got back to school, but Doug had driven her over to his house. The dinner was fun and completely surreal. Being around a family so large, and loving, and funny was a...culture shock. After dinner was over, Doug drove her back to school and dropped her off back at her dorm room. Mal wasn't back from Ben's place yet, so now she was really able to worry about whatever story Chad would tell when Fairy Godmother got back to the school. And fret over every single bad outcome-no matter how far-fetched.

 _He'll probably only give you a new nickname_. _I'd bet on...The Incinerator_. Wes said in her mind. _Think he'll convince everyone he saw you kick a baby, too_?

Evie groaned and pulled her pillow over her head. Her good mood was fading away. It felt as if her happiness was slipping through her fingers like sand. She pulled her pillow away, glaring at the face that was on it now that her makeup had transferred from the contact. It was a good alternative since she couldn't glare at Wes himself.

"I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now." She said. "Shut up."

 _What are you gonna do? I don't have any eyebrows to burn off right now, Incinerator_.

Despite the dig, she didn't hear anything from him again. It should have made her feel better, but she wanted to argue right now. For some reason she just felt...angry. She didn't want these powers. She didn't want to worry about controlling her emotions every second of every day. And she most certainly didn't want to have someone in her head all the time. It's like a thread holding back all the anger she felt since Wes had performed the spell that sealed the nautilus shell to her neck had snapped. She hopped off the bed and looked at Vivianne, currently watching her from the corner.

"You've missed too many days of class." Evie said, deciding to take her anger out on someone that wasn't in her head. "Turn back. Now."

The cat just continued staring at her.

"You know what?" Evie said, holding a hand out in front of her and aiming at the collar around the cat's neck. "Triggoh."

Nothing. No glowing, no transformation. Just a confused-looking cat staring at her.

"Triggo." She tried again.

 _What's going on?_ Wes asked in her mind.

"I know I'm saying it right." Evie said.

 _Just transform her yourself_. Wes said.

"Is this a trick? Are you two trying to get me to use magic?"

 _When would I have orchestrated it from in here? Now, figure out what's wrong with her before I make your life worse than I already have_.

Curiosity and a distraction from the anger burning inside her were her main motivations when Evie said, "Transfiguro."

Blue light wrapped around the cat as it morphed into human form. Human...male form? An adult man with black hair and green eyes was standing before her.

"Nyxherre." Evie said, sweeping her arms outward. The cat glowed again as it turned back to its original form. "What's going on?"

 _I hope you can explain it to me because if anything's happened to her, you will never_ -

"Shut up." Evie said. She knew the best thing to do in this situation, but she couldn't help but wonder if using magic so much in one night would snowball.

 _You have to find her_.

"I know." Evie said. _It's already bad enough_. She thought. "Ignacia."

A ball of blue fire appeared in her palm.

"Flammas insigthio." She said. The fire warped to reveal a scene happening somewhere else. What must be the real Vivianne was trapped in a cage in cat form while Geovanna Gothel was speaking to her. And, in the background, an unconscious Jordan and Genie were tied to chairs.

 _Is this what you call keeping a close eye on someone?_ Wes asked in her mind.

Evie rolled her eyes.

 _I wonder what would happen if Viv were set free._

Evie was already on the same page and searching her memory for a spell that would work. "Shatra." She decided on, pointing her finger at the image of the cage shown in the fire. The metal bars shattered into dust. Vivianne was quick to capitalize on Geo's surprise. She hopped off the counter the cage was on and transformed in midair, landing in a crouch.

"If you wanna run, I'll give you a head start, princess." Vivianne challenged as her claws shot out from her nails.

"I don't know if I should be more offended that you'd compare me to a princess," Geo said as she pulled her mother's trusty dagger from its thigh holster, "or by the fact that you think I'd run."


	8. Chapter 8

**In Genie's Home**

"If you wanna run, I'll give you a head start, princess." Vivianne challenged.

"I don't know if I should be more offended that you'd compare me to a princess," Geo said as she pulled her mother's trusty dagger from its thigh holster, "or by the fact that you think I'd run." Geo's grin was more from the excitement she felt when she held the dagger than the impending fight. Imagining the look on her mother's face when she found out it was missing-maybe when she scolded one of her sisters. Mother Gothel always liked to polish it during one of her lectures. The sweetness of her "concerned" words was always at odds with the sharp steel of the blade.

Vivianne didn't waste anymore time with taunts. She was across the room in a second, but Geo somehow was able to react fast enough. The shifter jumped to the side as Geo jabbed the dagger forward, before swiping toward Vivianne's new location. Vivianne grabbed Geo's arm before sidestepping around her and kicking her hand. The dagger flew into the air and Geo, shockingly, swiped at Vivianne with her nails. They were almost as sharp as Vivianne's own, but she wasn't quick enough to hit Vivianne. Gothel used Vivianne's surprise to step back, deftly catching her dagger and lunging forward with it. As Vivianne did a backflip to get out of her reach, Geo stepped forward again and jabbed the dagger upwards. Vivianne had to duck to avoid it and Geo kicked her, sending her to the ground. The dagger was quickly held at Vivianne's throat.

"Did you think my boyfriends never taught me anything?" Geo asked.

"I'll admit that was unexpected. And maybe you learned a few things," Vivianne said, "but I learned something since I've been here."

"Try anything and I'll turn you into a pincushion." Geo didn't need to let her waste time monologuing. That never ended well.

"I was just gonna say I learned that you, Geovanna, don't trust anyone." Vivianne said innocently. "Least of all Reggie, so you must have Evie's memory card somewhere close to you. After all, you must be worried about her coming to stop you."

Geo began pushing the dagger forward, but Vivianne grabbed her arm and flipped her over. _Now_ she wasn't holding her actual strength back. Geo raised the dagger, but Vivianne kicked it away. She strode over to Geo's jacket and reached through the outside pockets. She'd been able to smell the paper from inside the cage so it was just a matter of where it was. She searched the inner pockets and found a seam that, when her claws sliced it open, held what she was looking for. Vivianne ripped the card apart and it glowed a dim red before the light fizzed out.

"Looks like you-" Vivianne started, before a whooshing sound filled her ears. It might be imperceptible to most people, but it was identical to the one she heard when-

"Who let the cat out?" Shen asked. Then he saw Geo getting up from the ground and raced to help her up. Maddie retrieved the pins from her hair and Reggie fumbled for a card.

 _Four of them_. Vivianne thought. She looked at Genie and Jordan, tied up in the corner, out of curiosity. She tried, but she just couldn't feel bad for them. No protective instincts, no need to become a martyr, no sympathy. Just the need to survive that'd been there since before she turned human.

Decided, she shot across the room as fast as lightning and shattered the window with a kick. Before Maddie and Reggie could throw the hairpin and card they were aiming she was already flipping outside. Geo rushed to the window, but when she looked out she didn't see anyone. It was already dark, and they were too high up to see the black cat running through the streets. She turned around and addressed the group.

"Reggie, start the spell." Geo said. When he hesitated she screamed, "Now!"

Jumping to it, Reggie began laying cards with special marks on them all around the Genie before laying the shackles that he and Maddie had stolen along with the lamp.

* * *

 **Back to the Flashback**

"So-after they're asleep-I'll watch them until you've gotten the lamp." Geo continued to explain. "And when you get back, Reggie will do the spell."

"And after that?" Reggie asked.

"Are you stupid?" Shen asked him. "Then he's trapped again and she rubs the lamp."

"Exactly." Geo said. "We'll have to go to the capital city first, though, since that's the only place you can see the Isle. Seeing the heroes squirm when they realize the dome is down has always been on my bucket list. You'll take care of the transportation, Reggie."

"Yes, of course." Reggie said weakly.

"You're brilliant." Shen said.

Geo almost felt bad when she saw the glimmer in his eyes as he looked at her. The image of The Ten of Swords flashed in her mind. Betrayal, treachery. She pushed it away and said, "If you think everything up to now has been special, just wait until you hear what I plan to do with my other two wishes."

* * *

 **Evie's Perspective**

The fire in Evie's palm fizzled out as Vivianne left the room. The feeling of her memories returning to her must've shocked her out of her concentration. Or maybe it was shock that did it.

"She just left Jordan and Genie there." Evie said in astonishment. "She didn't even try to help them."

 _And?_ Wes asked in her mind.

"I thought she might have at least _some_ semblance of...of compassion." Evie said. "That she might help them."

Wes laughed inside her head. _Why would she do that? Are you forgetting that she's not human. Would you expect a shark to help you if you're drowning? No, you wouldn't. She's a wild animal, compassion isn't in her nature._

"That's it. I'm going there myself. Ap-"

 _NO YOU AREN'T!_ His scream distracted Evie so much that she couldn't even finish the spell. _Your memory was restored too, right? Two of them were able to trap you and strong arm Vivianne. Imagine what'll happen against the four of them. Are you insane?_

"...It pains me to say this, but you're right."

 _Good. We can stay here and plan-_

"I'm still going. I'm just not going alone. Unlike you I'm not a sociopath, so I'll ask my friends to go with me. And FG."

 _Great, it'll be a party for-open the window._

"What? Why?"

The window opened and Vivianne ducked inside.

"How'd you get here so fast?" Evie asked.

"I might look like a human, but I'm not as slow as one." Vivianne said.

"You left Jordan and Genie!" Evie exclaimed after the surprise wore off.

"And?" Vivianne asked.

 _Told you._ Wes said.

"It was the most logical decision. I mean, what good would it do for me to get caught again?"

"That's just...how can you be so heartless?"

"Easily. And I don't regret it one bit. Any other questions?"

Evie ground her teeth together and said, "Tell me what the four of them are up to."

"They stole the Genie's shackles-which you should remember now-and they took the lamp. They're using an ancient spell to trap him in the lamp again."

"What?!" Evie exclaimed.

 _How did I not think of that?_ Wes wondered in her head.

"From what I heard, it doesn't take long for it to work." Vivianne continued. "They should be back in Auradon soon, and they'll order Genie to shatter the barrier."

"What?!" Evie exclaimed again.

 _The fate of Auradon is in danger. Keep up._

"This is really, really bad." Evie worried out loud. "What am I gonna do?"

 _Do you expect help from me? Hahahaha. Finally, I'll be able to get out of this necklace without the cops chasing me around the country_

"You two are the most selfish, awful people I've ever been around. And that's saying a lot considering where I grew up." Evie said. Since she was on her own, she decided it was best to see how long she'd have before Geo, Reggie, Maddie and Shen were done with the spell and ready to come to the capital city. She used the fire spell to conjure a flame in her hand before saying, "Flammas insightho."

It showed Jordan's house. Unfortunately, the Genie was already morphing into a cloud of blue smoke. The lamp started glowing and it pulled him into it like a vacuum. Reggie gathered the cards from the floor and pulled one out of his pocket. He said something to the rest of the group, and the card began glowing before the four of them disappeared.

"Oh no." Evie breathed. They were already on their way to the capital city. There wasn't enough time to warn her friends _and_ stop the four VKs.

 _Looks like your time is up_. Wes said into her mind with amusement.


	9. Chapter 9

**In Auradon City's Observatory**

The transportation spell was a little tricky for Evie to pull off under pressure. That's why she wasn't too surprised when she appeared outside the observatory by herself, instead of with her friends and Fairy Godmother as she'd intended. It was almost completely deserted, save for the four other VKs gathered a little ahead of her. Nobody was ever around the observatory at this time of the night. That, along with the fact that it was perched on a high hill with a perfect view of the Isle, was probably why they'd gathered here to watch the barrier fall.

It took Evie a couple seconds to realize that the glowing object in Geo's hands was the lamp. Then she paid more attention to what was being said.

"I wish for everyone on the Isle of the Lost to be immune to captivity now and forever." Geo was saying. Nobody knew exactly how long she'd spent deciding how to word this wish. She didn't ask for the barrier to be destroyed. No, then it could be put back up. Being immune to captivity would free them _and_ keep them from being trapped ever again.

The genie must've been upset, because he didn't even leave his lamp. It just glowed a blindingly bright shade of gold. The barrier-usually transparent-glowed brightly before the dome faded away and the bridge of golden light appeared. A few of the nocturnal citizens were already crossing. Men, women, teenagers, flying monkeys, hyenas, Shere Khan's litter of tigers, Chernobog and his spirits all running, prowling and flying across at top speed. Now was when Evie had to act.

"Motus." Evie said while she still had the element of surprise. Shen, Maddie and all of Reggie's cards flew into the air ten feet before dropping to the ground.

Geo and Reggie turned around quickly, Geo holding her dagger in the hand that didn't carry the lamp. Reggie leaped up to try and grab a card-and he was so tall that he would've reached them if Evie hadn't said "ignacia," causing royal blue flames to burn them all to ash.

"Code Blue, you know what to do." Geo said calmly as she threw the dagger.

"Transfiguro." Evie said. The dagger glowed blue as it turned into plastic and she easily swiped it aside.

"What's a code blue again?" Reggie asked desperately as Shen and Maddie charged at Evie. Geo, however, stayed right where she was, backing up a little from the actual combat.

Evie was about to use another spell, but Wes screamed in her mind out of nowhere and she completely lost her concentration. While she was distracted, Shen ducked down and Maddie stepped up onto his back before using the added height to jump up into the air, coming down on Evie with her hairpins extended. In the nick of time, Evie said, "Apporime."

The blue smoke swirled quickly around her as she disappeared. It took a second to gather her bearings, but she recognized Geovanna right in front of her, clutching the lamp in her manicured hands. Wes screamed again, but she was more prepared for it this time and kept her focus on grabbing the lamp. Geo's grasp tightened around it, but Evie pulled and pulled until she was able to seize it from her.

"You-" Geo began.

But Evie was already speaking the wish she'd decided on as she rubbed the lamp, "I wish I could go back in time to before Geo made that wish."

"What?!" Geo exclaimed. Then she lunged forward and gripped the lamp as she said, "I wish that me and-"she nodded toward Reggie, Maddie and Shen"-them could go to whatever time she's going to."

The lamp glowed gold again and she was barely able to see as she was whisked through time.

* * *

 **10 Years Earlier**

Evie was in the capital city's town square. At least it looked like it, excluding small differences. The fountain that was usually in the center of the square was now a huge tree, the stores had different names and the sidewalk-which was usually made of cement-was made of cobblestone. And it was a lot less crowded than usual, too. When Evie payed closer attention, she noticed that everyone around her was staring. Having everyone's attention wasn't usually frightening, but they were definitely looking at her with...animosity in their eyes. And...she saw a little glimmer of fear. It took a second to realize that she must've just poofed into the middle of the square. And, unlike her time, that wasn't something so easily forgiven. She looked down and saw that she was also dressed in VK style, which only made her stand out more. She also saw that the lamp wasn't in her hands. Blue light shone beside her and Geo, Shen, Maddie and Reggie appeared a couple feet next to her. The crowd released a collective gasp.

One of them exclaimed, "The Ev-Th-The Evil...Queen," before fainting on the spot.

Evie's eyes widened as she realized that she-along with the VKs beside her-were all the spitting image of their parents. At least back when they were younger. It must've looked like The Evil Queen, Mother Gothel, Shan Yu, Madame Medusa and the King of Hearts had suddenly appeared in Auradon when they were supposed to be imprisoned on the Isle.

Deciding to leave before the situation escalated, Evie said, "Apporime." The smoke surrounded her and transported her across town to the rooftop of a small building that was still abandoned in this time, thankfully. She said, "apporime" again and a newspaper appeared in her hand. She also sent money to pay for it as well.

"It's 2008!" Evie exclaimed.

 _Are you surprised?_ Wes asked in her head. _I mean, you didn't specify how far back you wanted to travel in time, did you?_

"I meant a few seconds before or maybe a minute."

 _Did you say that?_

"Please stop talking."

 _Fine, then, I won't tell you where the lamp is_.

"What? You know?!"

 _I have a pretty good guess._

"Please tell me."

Complete silence. Evie sighed and sat down. It must've rained earlier because a puddle was in front of her. She looked into it and realized she needed to do something about her appearance if she didn't want anyone to think she was her mom. But she couldn't just walk into a store and get a wig or clothes. Deciding the situation was desperate enough, she decided to try a few spells. She didn't know anything to use in this situation other than the old hag spell, which took too long to prepare. And she wasn't asking Wes. So a rhyme would probably be best.

 _"To keep those who see me from finding me scary_

 _Make my hair red like a strawberry."_

Her hair glowed before turning red. The color may be a little too intense to be natrual, but it would work. And it was a dramatic change from the blue. Now for her eyes.

 _"Heather, slate, pewter and ash_

 _My eyes will turn gray in a flash."_

They turned from brown to gray easily. She was completely unrecognizable, but she needed clothes.

 _"I'm in a bad situation, I must confess_

 _So help me out by putting me in today's dress."_

Her clothes morphed into one of the dresses all the girls at Auradon Prep wore in the pictures of them as kids. It was made from velvet and it was an extremely blinding shade of yellow. All that was left is to hide the fact that she was wearing the Sea Witch's necklace. After a few moments to think of a rhyme she said:

 _"From a shell that winds and curls_

 _This necklace will appear to be a string of pearls."_

It worked. The nautilus shell now looked like a pearl necklace, which was another AK trend for girls her age-in this time at least. Now, if Wes wanted to maintain his silence, she'd find the lamp herself. And she had an idea of where it might be.

* * *

 **Villains' Perspective**

"What are you waiting for?" Geo whispered to Reggie as the onlookers started to scream for the police and run away. "Get us out of here."

"My cards were sort of...burned." Reggie said.

"Then follow me." Geo sighed as she ran straight into the group of people in front of her. They screamed and got out of her way, just as she predicted. She kept running and turned into an alley, the footsteps behind her letting her know that at least two people were following her. She kept winding through the alleys, using the knowledge of the maps of the city she'd studied to estimate where she should be going. She slowed her pace as she got to her destination: the closest alley that she remembered had an entrance to the sewer. It was still here in this time, thankfully, and even though it wasn't an appealing hiding spot, it was the only way they could lie low until nightfall. She looked behind her for the first time and noticed that all three members of her group had managed to keep up.

"Open the cover." Geo ordered.

Shen and Maddie strained to lift it from the ground, but eventually managed to move it enough for all of them to be able to fit through. As Geo began to climb down, she heard someone behind her say, "FREEZE!"

She whipped her head around and saw that a group of six police officers were surrounding them-three on either side of the alley. Instantly, the image of the Ten of Swords appeared in her mind-the ten swords sprouting from the fallen man's back-and she knew what she had to do. In a heartbeat, she'd picked up a plank of wood that was lying on the floor of the alley and swung it as hard as she could-right at Shen's knee. He probably could've avoided being hit if he hadn't been completely caught off guard. But he was, and the pain in his knee was so sharp that he fell face-first onto the pavement. Geo discarded the wooden plank and swiftly climbed down the ladder. Maddie followed behind her without having to be ordered to do so. The only one who hesitated was Reggie, who looked at the police officers surrounding them before telling Shen "I'm so sorry" and following the other two girls into the sewer.

Shen's scream of outrage could be heard even as Reggie closed the cover behind them, followed shortly after by a scream of pain from one of the officers that must've made the mistake of getting too close to him. Just as Geo had predicted, he wouldn't be going down easy.


	10. Chapter 10

**Villains' Perspective**

No one had spoken since what happened earlier with Shen. They'd just followed Geo through the sewers as she used the map she'd made of Auradon in her mind to work out where they should be going. It was hard to recall some details, but she'd spent months on the Isle figuring out hiding places and escape roots based on maps she'd been able to find. And, luckily, the maps on the Isle were outdated, so they were made around the time they were currently in. When she saw that they were approaching another ladder that led up outside, she stopped.

"Open that cover." Geo told Reggie. He climbed up the ladder immediately and pushed upwards with all his strength until it was moved aside enough to see the night sky above them. Reggie climbed outside, followed by Geo and Maddie. They were back in another alley, right next to the door leading into one of the buildings.

"What are we doing here?" Reggie asked nervously.

"Maddie, unlock that door." Geo ordered, flawlessly ignoring him. Maddie knelt down and pulled the pins from her hair, inserting them into the lock and twisting them until she heard a click. She opened the door and Geo breezed inside.

It was a very, very small store filled with all kinds of things. Clothes, toys, knick-knacks, pictures, hair supplies. All of them were revealed when Maddie flipped on the light switch.

"We need to change the way we look." Geo explained. "Help yourself."

"But this is stealing." Reggie said. "From actual people, not just a museu-"

He stopped talking as Geo cut a glare his way.

"What card wold you need to track someone down?" Geo asked Reggie as she picked up a deck from the toy section.

"Probably the Joker. An-and the 3 of Cloves." Reggie said. Geo pulled them out and handed them to him. Reggie took them and the Joker started glowing red. He handed the card back to Geo. "The Joker will glow brighter and brighter the closer you get to whoever you're looking for."

"And the other one?" Geo asked.

"It keeps...it sends power from me to the card so that it doesn't stop working." Reggie explained.

"Good." Geo said. She grabbed a bottle of blonde hair dye and began to walk to the back room, sighing when she saw Maddie pocketing a jeweled watch. She stopped when they heard footsteps from outside. The room was so quiet that the sounds outdoors rang through clearly. Maddie ran across the room and turned the light off, but-judging by the banging they heard on the alley door shortly after-it wasn't quick enough not to be noticed. "The front door." Geo ordered in a whisper.

Maddie, Reggie and Geo-in that order-shot across the room to the front door. Maddie cracked it slightly and slipped through soundlessly. Reggie was a little less graceful, but he didn't make too much noise either. The only alarming noise was the loud banging as the door slammed shut behind them and the clicking sound as it locked. Reggie gasped and Maddie sighed. Geo had locked them outside, and police flashlights glowed at their left and right, getting closer and closer.

Maddie reached for the pins in her hair and looked up at the facade of the building behind them. It was too smooth and steep for her to climb, and the flashlights would soon illuminate all the shadows she could hide in. As the policemen drew closer, Reggie pulled the Three of Cloves from his pocket and threw it at the officers to the left. It split into six pieces, glowing red as they flew into the officers' shoes and tied the laces together. The three policemen fell to the ground as they tried to take another step. Reggie gabbed Maddie by the arm and pulled her with him as he ran past them and back into the alley. Two more officers were waiting at the back door of the business, but Maddie was able to sneak up to them and trip them face-first to the ground. Once they were unconscious, Reggie and Maddie climbed down into the sewer.

"What do we do now?" Reggie asked Maddie when they were at the bottom.

"I don't know about you, but I knew this was gonna happen." Maddie said.

"Me, too, that's why I tricked her into giving me the 3 of Cloves." Reggie explained. "But I didn't think we'd have to use it on the cops."

Maddie went to the wall of the sewer and pulled out a flashlight she'd snatched off an officer without Reggie noticing. She clicked it on and it revealed a series of notches going down in one direction. "I left us a trail just in case. Now, we can retrace our steps back to where we came in. It was pretty close to the jail...what do you say to breaking Shen out so the three of us can pay Geo a visit?"

Reggie smiled, but it faded as he began to say, "I don't have any cards."

Maddie pulled out a deck from her pocket. "You really think all I stole in that store was a watch?"

Reggie's eyes widened and he took the cards quickly. "Now, I'm in." He said with a smirk.

* * *

 **Evie's Perspective Earlier That Day**

Evie was walking down a street in broad daylight. Judging by the fact that nobody payed her a second glance, her disguise was working. At least that was what she thought until she heard someone yell, "Stop right now!" She looked over her shoulder and saw two royal guards sprinting straight towards her. Every fiber of her being was screaming to run, but she stayed put.

 _You look nothing like yourself or your mother._ She reassured herself. _You can talk your way out of this._

But the guards ran right past her and down the street. After letting out the biggest sigh of relief ever, she noticed someone peeking out at her from a nearby alley. By the time she turned her head that way, they'd already ducked back into the alley.

 _Was that Madeline?_ Evie wondered in her head.

She walked into the alley, deciding to follow them while she could. If it was one of the VKs, it would be best to stop them before they could cause too much trouble in this time. She followed them farther and farther until she reached a dead end. She heard a clattering sound and looked behind a trash can. Hiding behind it was a young boy with short brown hair and hazel eyes. He left his hiding spot when he saw her and looked down at the ground.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were one of my guards." He said.

Guards as in plural. Judging from his clothes he had to be a prince, but most princes and princesses at this age only had one bodyguard with them when they were in public. And...he was wearing blue and yellow. Deep, royal blue and canary yellow.

"Are you...Ben?" Evie asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Ben replied.

"You're like...seven years old." Evie said in astonishment.

"Yes, ma'am." Ben said, looking at her curiously. Her surprise was probably weird considering he didn't know the extent of the circumstance. "Can you please not tell anyone that you saw me here?"

"Sure. Trust me, I definitely won't be telling anybody."

"Thank you, ma'am."

Evie laughed a little at that. "So you've always had perfect manners."

"Pardon me?"

"Nothing. Actually, now that I think about it, I have something important to ask you."

Ben looked perplexed at how familiarly Evie was talking to him, but asked her, "May I ask what about?"

"I'm...a tourist from Charmington," Evie decided she'd say. She didn't want to cause too much trouble in the past or affect the people she knew. And that wasn't too much of a lie, considering her mother _was_ from Charmington. "I've been wanting to see the Genie's lamp. Is it in the Museum of Cultural History?"

"Yes." Ben said. "There are tours everyday that start at ten-o-clock and noon."

"Thank you." Evie told him. She turned to leave, but stopped for a second. "And you never wanna hide behind a metal trash can. They make way too much noise."

"Yes, I just found out." Ben replied, looking a little shameful at having been caught.

Evie chuckled as she left. She was definitely going to have to ask Ben about this stage in his life where he snuck away from his guards. Imagining him as a rebel was kind of humorous. But she focused as she finally emerged from the alley into the street. She needed the lamp, so she had to find it before the other VKs did. She hoped with all her heart that it would still be able to function in this time. But she wouldn't find out until she'd located it. It didn't appear with her or Geo, so it had to be somewhere else. And if it was in the museum in the past, it might have returned to its original location.

 _You figured it out._ Wes said in her head. _Congratulations._

 _I knew it._ Evie thought.

 _Yes, the lamp appears in your hand when you travel through time, but when two people make the wish...it sets to a default._

"So it's in the museum?" Evie asked out loud.

 _Yep. Now that you know where it is, there's just the issue of getting it. Not even I was able to break Fairy Godmother's spells around the objects in the museum. And that was in the future, after a decade had made security more relaxed. But nowadays..._ He chuckled. _Have fun trying to get to it_.

Pushing his taunts out of her thoughts, Evie continued on to her destination: the museum. The sun was starting to set and she needed to pull off a robbery.


	11. Chapter 11

**Maddie & Reggie's Perspective**

After retrieving enough tools, Maddie and Reggie made their way to the Royal Jail of Auradon. It was nearly empty and barely any guards were walking around the halls. Even less after Reggie and Maddie took care of them-Reggie putting them to sleep with a card or Maddie knocking them unconscious with a kick. When they got to the only cell that was occupied, they saw Shen peering at them through the bars.

"Let me guess, this is some sort of rescue?" Shen asked.

"Actually, it is." Maddie said.

"Geo backstabbed us, too." Reggie explained.

"Don't say her name around me." Shen growled.

"Sorry." Reggie said, his face going pale. "Since there aren't many of us, we figured that it would be best to come for you."

"Doesn't that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside." Shen said dryly.

"There's strength in numbers." Reggie said.

"For some people." Madeline said under her breath.

"Please stop being negative." Reggie said.

"Just open this door so I can go find _her_." Shen said.

"So you'll help us get the lamp and go back to our time?" Reggie asked.

Shen sighed. "Yes. The girl whose name you're not allowed to say is out looking for the lamp right now. We find her, we find we find the lamp. And after we get back to our time, I can make the genie turn her into her mom's slave forever. Simple."

"That's actually...brilliant." Reggie said in astonishment.

"And I know just how to do it." Shen said. He approached the bars. "So open the door. Now."

Reggie retrieved a card and held it to one of the bars of the cell. It glowed red as it morphed into hundreds of white rose petals."I wanted them to be red." Reggie said with disappointment. Reggie touched it to four more bars until there was a large enough opening for Shen to exit.

Shen left the cell and led them out of the jail, spending every second thinking up a way to enhance his plan for revenge.

* * *

 **Geo's Perspective**

Geo looked down at the map again as she turned down a road. The forest was getting darker and darker as the moon rose into the sky, but the card Reggie had given her was still dim. She'd done a few tests before deciding that it was effective enough to be trusted and she now knew that it would shine much brighter when she got to who she was looking for. She heard a noise behind her and quickly hid in the shadows, applying the techniques she's covertly observed Maddie use over the past months. Holding her breath to minimize her movements, using her dark hair to hide the pallor of her face and pushing herself up against a tree on the side that faced away from the moon's glow. A group of people passed by her and she noticed what they were holding. Pickaxes. She drew the black cloak she'd swiped from the store earlier around herself so she could blend into the shadows as she followed them. It was too small, so to put on the hood she had to pull her hair down from its ponytail. She pushed it out of her face-taking a second to get used to the feeling of having straight hair for the first time-before trudging on. She'd dyed her hair brown and straightened it completely as part of her disguise.

After half an hour of walking, she'd reached her destination: a tiny cottage in the woods. Or at least it might have been tiny at some point, but now it was three stories high and ten people were entering the front door. Geo sat down and waited, observing the people walking around inside until she saw the face she was looking for. Following it around, she noticed the last room he entered before going to sleep. Another hour of waiting and all the lights in the home were off. She waited another ten minutes to give everyone time to go to sleep before approaching the front door. She lifted up the doormat and found a spare key underneath. After mumbling about how predictable people in Auradon were, she unlocked the door and went inside. Using the layout she'd observed from watching through the windows, she followed a mental map to the right room. She eased open the door and prowled inside. Approaching the bed, she pulled out a roll of duct tape.

* * *

 **Evie's Perspective**

Evie transported herself to the museum in a blue cloud of smoke. She'd ditched the red hair and gray eyes. In fact, she wasn't even wearing her own face at all. She'd spent hours using spells to craft her face into the image of Fairy Godmother. Thanks to the eye for detail she'd honed as a designer she was able to perfectly replicate the features of the headmistress, minus a few wrinkles to make herself look younger. It was very tiring using so much magic in such a short span of time, but she pushed through it. She even wore one of the dresses and blazers Fairy Godmother loved. And she didn't even have to do anything to the pearls she'd glamoured the nautilus shell to look like. They were an FG staple.

Walking with FG's hurried stride, Evie approached the doors to the museum and knocked. A guard was there at the door relatively quickly and he opened the door for her. Evie turned to the guard after he let her in and spoke to him.

"Four villains were spotted in Auradon this afternoon." Evie said, imitating Fairy Godmother's dramatic tone of voice.

"We heard." The guard said.

"It's imperative that I reinforce the protection charms around the museum's dangerous artifacts." Evie said.

"Of course. Do you have any form of identification?"

Evie reached into the pocket of her blazer. _Conjuro, conjuro, conjuro_. She chanted in her head, trying to get the spell to work non-verbally. _Conjuro_. She tried again. This time it worked. She pulled out an ID card that had Fairy Godmother's face printed on it. She wasn't sure if the information was completely correct, but the guard seemed satisfied enough.

"I have a list of the most important objects in the museum, we'll start with the Genie's lamp."

"Do you need your wand?"

"I can manage without it for right now. We don't have time to waste."

The guard didn't know much about magic-how could he, considering the ban?-so he just led her straight to the lamp. They were in the room containing the statues of everyone who helped the heroes along the way. Mushu, Flounder and Sebatian, Sven, Pegasus, and finally Genie. He had a glittering mosaic of his blue form on the wall behind the lamp that made it look like he was swirling into existence from smoke. After seeing him trapped in the lamp so recently, Evie was able to appreciate just how realistic it was.

"Is there anything I can do to help you during this...process?" The guard asked.

"Can I have some privacy?" Evie asked. She didn't dare glance at the five guards stationed around the room as she asked it. "I need to concentrate intensely."

"I'm sorry, but that's strictly against protocol."

"I figured you'd say that." Evie said. She was quick. Raising a hand, she said, "Metamorfime." The guards glowed blue as they turned into rabbits. She allowed the spells altering her face and height to fade away, which felt like a weight lifted off of her shoulders. Evie pointed at one of the two doors that allowed entrance to the room and said, "Motus." It closed shut softly and locked.

She turned to the other door and saw two people standing there already. She panicked for a second, thinking they were guards, but then she looked closer. One was a young boy with a ridiculously large pair of glasses. The other was a girl Evie's age wearing a black cloak. She had extremely long brown hair, green eyes and an orangey tan. Considering the residue on the cloak, the tan was fake. But despite how good the disguise was, when she pulled out a dagger and spoke, her identity was unmistakable.

"Thanks for leading me here, _Evie."_ Geo said with a smile. She raised the dagger to the boy's throat. "But I'd suggest you to take the barrier around the lamp down and give it to me."

"What's going on?" The little boy asked with tears in his eyes.

Then Evie realized who the little boy was. Glasses, his nose, his voice. It was Doug.


	12. Chapter 12

**In the Museum**

Evie's eyes widened as she realized that it was Doug.

"You kidnap-" Evie started.

"No speaking." Geo said. "No spells. Just give me the lamp and nobody gets hurt."

Evie silently pointed at the barrier around the lamp, her hands shaking and her heart racing.

"Reggie was able to figure out a way to bring it down without speaking. Surely you can." Geo said before looking down at Doug. "If you need any motivation, remember that the Genie can't bring back the dead."

Evie gasped before turning to the protective dome. She racked her mind for a moment before realizing the perfect thing for the task. Her mother was a master at knowing how to break curses and spells, and she remembered something her mom used to brag about inventing. The _Queen's Cracker,_ a magic rune. Evie had trouble recalling its exact shape, but when she tried to draw it in the air a few times, she remembered the upside-down lowercase f shape she'd seen before. Blue light glowed as she drew it again on the surface of the barrier. The rune slowly shone brighter and brighter and brighter as it leeched away power from the dome. And as the rune glowed brighter still, Evie felt like it was leeching away her own energy as well. She almost fell down, but she was able to lean against the podium that the lamp stood on. The rune had finally leeched away the rest of the dome's energy and it disappeared.

"You can back away from the podium now." Geo said.

Evie looked over and saw that Doug was hyperventilating. Geo had tightened her grip around him. Evie backed away, almost to the other side of the room. Geo slowly approached, nudging Doug closer until she was close enough to grab the lamp.

While the daughter of Gothel was distracted in the two seconds it took for her to lift up the lamp and try to return her grip to holding Doug in place, Evie cast a spell. "Defenza."

Geo looked startled as she pulled Doug closer to her and grasped the dagger tighter.

"Motus." Evie said. The lamp flew out of Geovanna's hand and up into the air. Before Evie could summon it to her, a shattering sound rang through the air. Geo had tried to use the dagger on Doug, but a shield of blue energy now surrounded his body like a second layer of skin. Realizing she couldn't hurt him, Geo pushed Doug forward and shoved a giant statue of Baloo the Bear down onto him. The shield protected him from any harm, but now he was stuck underneath a two-hundred pound statue. Evie used the movement spell again to try to lift the statue, but it wasn't working right. She was losing energy every second and the spell made her head spin. She tried again and the statue lifted-just barely. Doug rolled from underneath it and she ended the spell. When she did, the lamp also fell from the air and the field of energy around Doug disappeared.

Geo sprinted forward and caught the lamp before it hit the ground. Evie tried to stop Geovanna as she shot across the room, but she was too tired to move her hands enough to aim. Geo was still running as Evie fell to the ground, but she stopped suddenly. Evie couldn't see why from the floor, but the girl looked troubled.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Someone asked near her. Evie looked up and saw Doug. "We should go somewhere away from here."

"Yes." Evie breathed. She tried to stand, but it was like her body was made of lead. Doug helped her off the ground, allowing her to lean on him. Despite his age, he was strong enough to help her across the room and into a small closet. He pulled the door shut until there was only a small crack that the two of them could see through. They made as little sound as possible as they watched the events outside the room unfold.

* * *

 **In the Sidekick Room**

Geo stopped running when she saw that Shen was standing in the middle of the doorway, blocking her path. She backed away a few steps, turning her head quickly to look behind her. Maddie was approaching from that way. Geo turned her body to the side so that she could look at both of them out of the corners of her eyes at the same time.

"Happy to see me?" Shen asked.

"Would you believe me if I said yes?" Geo asked pathetically, willing tears to her eyes and lowering her gaze to the ground. "I thought that if I could get the lamp quickly and wish us back to the right time, it wouldn't matter. But...b-bu-b-but I betrayed you and the trust you gave me and...that makes me-"

"Stop it!" Shen yelled. "You're not sorry, you were being _you_. You always do this...I just never thought you could do it to..."

"You?" Geo asked. It was like switching off a light. The remorse, the shame, the tears: they disappeared in a second. "I'm sorry to lead you on, honey, but it's not personal."

"Is for me."

"I know you're mad and everything, but this little coup-or whatever you want to call it-is getting annoying. You're not stupid enough to do anything to me." Geo said with an eye roll. "No offence, but you're not the brains of this operation. We still have to make sure the barrier stays down in our time and, as I've proven, I'm the only one who can lead us like that. That is, unless you somehow found another way to get your father to notice you over-how many was it?-ten older brothers and two sisters?"

Shen grit his teeth.

Geo turned her head and saw that Maddie was advancing. She was ten feet away before, but now it was more like three. Geo reminded herself not to underestimate the girl's stealth. "And you, Maddie. It's gonna be completely hectic now that the dome is down, and you'll have first pick at all of Auradon's museums and treasuries. Don't try to tell me that doesn't make your heart race. And think about how much your mom'll love you after you get her all those jewels."

Maddie remained silent as ever.

Geo almost yelped as she felt the weight of the lamp suddenly disappear from her hand. She saw something moving and her eyes tracked it as it flew behind her to...Reggie's hand. Now trapped in a card, the boy had the lamp. Geo internally chastised herself for not noticing him sneaking up on her. "And Reggie." Geo said. Finding stones to throw at him was as easy as lining her lips. "Poor, sweet Reggie. If that barrier opens, you _actually_ think your mom is gonna be happy to see you. Don't take this the wrong way, I'm just worried about you, but she's...a lunatic. Who knows what she'll do when she's free? But it's your life. I just assumed you liked having your head attached to your shoulders."

Reggie noticeably blanched. "I can stop her with the lamp if she gets...upset." He said, his voice cracking.

"Oh, how nice." Geo said sweetly. "Shen's just going to give you the most powerful object in the world because you're such good friends. I, personally, wouldn't be friends with someone who's threatened to shove my head in a toilet since kindergarten-and actually did it a few times in sixth grade-but once again...it's your life...and your risk."

The situation was bad, but it was turning around. One of the reasons Geo chose this group was because they had absolutely no ties with each other. And no reason to trust one another. Getting them to turn on each other would give Geo just enough time to get the lamp and go, which shouldn't be a real challenge. She'd been pitting people against each other for years. And when you're branded as a "mean girl" you usually have a refined skill of using your words as weapons.

"Don't listen to her." Shen said.

Reggie looked down at the card containing the lamp doubtfully.

"Your choice." Geo said. She glanced at Shen. " _I_ won't try to force you."

"She's a liar and a-" Shen started.

"I know, but-" Reggie interrupted, only to be interrupted again.

"Can you two stop being stupid for five seconds?" Maddie asked.

"I dare you to call me stupid one more time." Shen said, approaching Maddie. Geo let out a fake yelp as she stepped out of his way.

"You need to focus." Maddie said.

"And you need to stop talking." Shen said.

"This is why I do everything alone." Maddie said unflinchingly.

The two of them may be smart, but they have short tempers. They were so mad that they didn't even notice Geo back away-slowly of course-until she bumped into Reggie. She turned around and put on a look of alarm. While Reggie was still surprised, Geo balled a fist-driving it forward like she was knocking on a door-and hit Reggie's neck. Shen had taught her this move and it must hurt, given Reggie clutched his throat and almost fell forward. While he was disoriented, Geo snatched the card from his hand and kicked his knee so that he fell over. She'd started running to the door whose path was clear thanks to Shen walking closer to Maddie. With Reggie on the floor and Shang and Maddie almost on the other side of the room, Geo made it halfway to the door before the unforeseeable happened. The card disappeared from her hand. She turned around and saw that it didn't teleport to Reggie's grasp. No, it disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke. And the one other person who wanted the lamp-whose magic was blue-was nowhere in sight. Geo turned back around and ran into the hallway. Closing the door behind her and putting a ceremonial staff through the handles to keep it shut, she thought of where Evie could've gone.


	13. Chapter 13

**In the Sidekicks Room**

After Geo's escape, Reggie used a card to make to door explode. When he did, the alarm started ringing.

"Nice one." Shen yelled over the sound of the alarm as the lights started flaring.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Reggie said.

"Shut up and chase her!" Maddie yelled as she started running out the door. Somehow she could even sprint soundlessly. "The guards are coming!"

Shen and Reggie stopped arguing immediately when Maddie said that and followed her into the hall, leaving Evie and Doug alone in the closet. Evie tried to stand, but her muscles didn't seem to want to listen to her.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" Doug asked her.

"Yes, I'm fine." Evie lied.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" He asked, apparently picking up on how bad she was feeling.

Evie looked down at the card in her hand. She needed to get the lamp out. Ripping the card apart would make it appear, but it would shatter it in two. Tangible things had to be freed magically. But trying to cast a spell was getting difficult because of how much her head was spinning. She couldn't cast a spell like that when she was this tired.

 _I wonder who's gonna find you first._ Wes said in her mind. _The security guards will probably be here soon. But Geo_ is _pretty crafty. And you should never discount Maddie Medusa when it comes to stealing_.

Evie knew very well how bad the situation was, but she tried to tune out Wes's words. That was proving to be difficult, however, considering his words were literally inside her head.

 _This is pretty great_. He continued. _Soon you won't be able to leech off of my powers anymo-_

"That's it!" Evie exclaimed.

"Excuse me?" Doug asked.

"I just thought of something." Evie said. "Can you help me up please?"

Doug nodded and helped Evie to her feet. Now that she was standing, it was a little easier to move around. She walked over to the statues of Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. Their wands weren't very powerful so they weren't protected by a magic barrier. Just a glass case with a tricky-to-pick-looking lock on it. Using anything other than a key to open it would probably set off the alarm. But the alarm was already ringing, so that wasn't an issue anymore. Evie grabbed the candelabra that was modeled to look like Lumiere's cursed form and smashed it against the glass. She held her hands over the three wands and steeled herself. This wasn't going to be pleasant.

"Leesha." Evie said. Her hands glowed blue as blue, red and green sparks flew from the wands into her palms. The spell took so much energy that she almost fell to the ground. Doug reached forward to stop her, but Evie was able to catch herself. It took a second, but the spell worked. She was a little less exhausted than before. She returned to her earlier position-hands over the wands-and said, "Leesha." She repeated the spell over and over, the action reminding her of a nurse using a defibrillator. Finally, she wasn't tired anymore. She wanted to leech more energy from the wands, but she didn't want them to lose so much power that they stop working. Evie flexed her hands and said, "Thanks for the idea, Wes."

 _Congratulations, I never would've thought that someone so hopeless would actually get out of this situation._ Wes said.

"Who's Wes?" Doug asked.

"No one important." Evie said. She continued in her head. _Well this hopeless someone is going to get us back to the right time. And when I do, I'm going to kick you out of my head once and for all._

 _You can't do that._

 _I actually thought that. But when you told me that your plan was to get out of the necklace after the barrier breaks down, you let me know it's possible. So thanks for that, too. Hope you miss the Isle, because that's the only place waiting for you._

Evie smirked at the silence in her head after she said that. She retrieved the card from her pocket. "Nyxherre." She said, pointing at it. The card disintegrated and Evie had to react quickly to catch the lamp when it appeared in her hand. She rubbed the lamp. Once again, Genie refused to leave the lamp, but it did glow blue to show that he was listening. "I wish for all the wishes you've granted since your most recent imprisonment to be undone." Evie said.

It was sudden-like the world turned sideways in an instant.

* * *

 **In the Present at the Observatory**

In the blink of an eye-no, quicker than that-Evie was standing outside the observatory with the lamp in her hands. She looked around and saw Geo to her right. And standing behind her were Reggie, Maddie and Shen. Geo had spent years practicing her poker face, but even she looked shocked.

"Told you I'd catch you." Shen said with a smile.

Geo stayed perfectly still. There was no direction to run without ending up in the path of one of the other VKs. She considered trying to guilt or threaten Reggie into getting out of her way, but she'd lost most of her influence on him. Now he feared Shen more than her.

"Reggie, put her in a card." Shen said. He added, "One that doesn't have too much room."

Reggie grabbed a card and threw it. He must've been getting better since Geo didn't have any time to react it before it siphoned her into captivity. The card flew around in an arc and returned to Reggie, before Shen snatched it from the mage's grasp.

"Now, now, what to do with you?" Shen asked, turning his gaze to Evie as he pocketed the card. "Tell you what. Give me the lamp and you can walk away."

Evie met his eyes without an ounce of fear. She'd been surrounded by bullies all her life, and that's what she saw Shen was. "I have a question for you."

Shen looked at her with mild surprise before saying, "Shoot."

"Do you regret anything that you did?" Evie asked. "Assaulting people, the manipulation, any of it. Just a little bit? Any of you?"

Reggie looked down at his feet.

"Not." Shen said. "At. All."

Evie looked at Maddie.

"What's so important?" Maddie said. "Are you forgetting that we-yes, you included-had to steal to survive for years? I stole food off of families' dinner tables and never felt bad when I heard other kids' stomachs growling in school. You think I'll feel bad about stealing and lying to people who live like literal kings?"

Evie couldn't help seeing that Maddie's logic had _some_ sense to it. It was immoral, cynical and unrepentant. But it was something Evie and her friends thought about sometimes on their bad days, even if some of them didn't like expressing it. But it was obvious Maddie wouldn't be willing to change. Evie glanced at Reggie, but the shame on his face told her everything she needed to know.

"Apporime." Evie said. Shen and Maddie disappeared in clouds of blue smoke.


	14. Chapter 14

**I considered having a twist ending and having Reggie be this amazing actor and be the mastermind behind the whole plan and have influenced Geo to pretend to be the leader. I won't lie, my jaw dropped to the ground when I thought about it because it would be so unexpected but I decided against it because it seemed so cheesy.**

* * *

 **At the Observatory**

"Where are they?" Reggie asked fearfully. It took him a second to figure out what to do, without being told. He finally decided he might need to get a card, but his hands were shaking so bad that he dropped the entire deck and the cards spilled across the floor.

"Calm down, okay." Evie said reassuringly. She opened her hand to show them the card that now had three faces on it. "I sent them into the card Geo's trapped in."

"Why didn't you trap me?"

"Because you're not as bad as them. I can tell. I think that you were the one person Ben was right about. You could really fit in in Auradon."

"Really?" Reggie said. It was clear from his tone that he didn't believe it. He sarcastically added, "Sure, I'll have lunch with the graceful and courageous princes."

"You've been here. There are a lot of people I could see you fitting in with. And everyone loves you after those tarot reading-but I'd recommend that you not use magic so much."

"Yeah, but I-"

"Were so happy on the Isle?"

"You don't understand. When people come to Auradon-when they abandon the Isle-it's just...a lot of people don't like it."

"The people on the Isle can't hurt you here."

"I literally trapped you in a card and stole your memory of it even happening."

"Fair point. But Ben is going to put protocols in place. He _always_ stops things like this from happening twice."

"You don't understand. It's inevitable that the barrier come down. And if my mom catches me after betraying her, if my **_sisters_** find out...not even my dad would be able to stop them."

"You can't be scared all of your life. I'm not gonna lie, it's not easy to let go of your fear of what _could_ happen if anyone from the Isle comes for you, but over time you realize that it's not something you need to fear. And you shouldn't let anyone on the Isle scare you so much that you turn down a chance to be happier."

Reggie looked at the ground again. For a long time. Evie counted three minutes pass by. He finally looked into Evie's eyes. "Okay. I'll do it."

Evie smiled encouragingly. She pocketed the card holding the VKs so that she could hold the lamp with both hands. Before she could rub the lamp, it was suddenly out of her grasp. Evie was barely able to trace the movement as a dark figure took the lamp before jumping six feet into the air. They landed a few yards away from Reggie and Maddie. When they stood up, Evie saw that it was Vivianne.

"Thanks for this." Vivianne said as she rubbed the lamp. It glowed blue and she said, "Free Wes from the seashell with both his _and_ Evie's powers."

Evie cried out as the seashell necklace started glowing. As it glowed it grew hotter before it shattered, sending Wes into the air. He floated in the air for a second, blue and red light surrounding him until he fell to the ground. Vivianne caught him and helped him onto his feet. Wes looked to his hand and cackled when he saw that his ring was on his finger, though the color of the crystal was purple now.

"Ignacia." Wes said. A ball of purple fire appeared in his hand. "Perfect."

Evie's eyes widened as she tried to think of what she could possibly do now. She didn't have any powers and she didn't even have her phone to try to call her friends for help. As she was thinking, Reggie picked up a card from the ground and threw it. It glowed red as it exploded, sending Wes and Vivianne flying backward. Reggie grabbed another card and threw it at them. This time, ten giant clovers sprouted from the ground, tangling the witch and familiar in their grasp.

When Wes realized that he couldn't force his way out of them, he grabbed Vivianne's hand and said "apporime," causing the two of them to disappear in a swirl of purple smoke.

Reggie's eyes widened and he grinned. "I did that!" He shouted. It was shocking for Evie to hear him speak so loudly given he was usually so soft-spoken. "And nobody even told me to!"

"Yeah, one of the perks of autonomy." Evie said as she picked up the lamp-which had fallen to the ground along with Wes and Vivianne. "Now we should get out of here before the two of them decide to come back. But first."

"First what?" Reggie asked.

Evie rubbed the lamp. When it glowed blue she said, "I wish you free."

The lamp glowed again, brighter and brighter and brighter and brighter until a comet of blue energy sailed out of the lamp and across the sky. The Genie was free and-considering he was headed south-he was on his way home.

"Ready to go to Auradon?" Evie asked.

"I think so." Reggie said. Then he nodded and steeled his voice, "Yes, I am."

And they left, completely unaware of the events unfolding only a mile away.


	15. Chapter 15

**By the Enchanted Lake**

"You need something to eat." Vivianne said after giving Wes a quick examination. "I'll go catch something for you."

"How adorable." Wes said. "You want to fetch me dinner."

"Keep talking and I'll cut all your hair off while you're asleep." Vivianne said, her claws coming out as she smiled evily.

"Offering to make meals _and_ giving me haircuts? You've gotten too domesticated."

Vivianne rolled her eyes and jumped nine feet up in the air onto a tree branch before speeding through the forest soundlessly as she began her hunt. Out of boredom, Wes decided to test out his new powers. With Evie's, his own, the power of the ring, and now the power of the nautilus shell, he was curious to see what he could do. A fire would be enough considering, unlike Vivianne, he couldn't eat his food raw. He only gave it a thought-no spells or extreme amount of will behind it, just a thought. Purple fire appeared and crawled up the tree he was leaning against. Wes looked up in awe as it continued spreading. Watching a fire burn-nurturing something he created and watching it grow-was what he thought parents felt while watching their kids grow. Parents who never took a bite of a cursed apple, at least. But he couldn't let the fire grow right now. He needed to lie low. So he gave it a thought again and the fire died in a second-no smoke or embers remaining.

Then, Wes was on the ground.

* * *

 **Uma's Perspective**

She dove out of the water like a dolphin, landing on Wes with all her strength. In one motion she pinned him down, in the next she snatched his ring-none too gently-from his finger and pocketed it, and in the next she'd unsheathed her sword and held it to his chest.

"Long time no see." Uma said with a smirk.

"Didn't I leave you at the bottom of the ocean?" Wes asked as he looked around, trying to think of some way out of this. "How did you get out of that cave?"

"Word of advice: never leave a sea witch with her potions. We're kinda resourceful."

"Trust me, if I wanted you trapped there permanently, you'd be in that cave starving right now."

"And yet, here we are. You powerless and me giving you one chance to walk out of here without being gutted like a fish. Tell me, where's my necklace?"

"Necklace? I don't know about any necklace."

"Keep...playing...dumb." Uma said, pushing her sword forward slightly. "I dare you."

"Fine." Wes said with a smile. "It's near the Royal Observatory...in a thousand pieces."

"WHAT?!" Uma yelled.

In the split second Uma was off her guard, Wes whistled two short notes. Uma was barely able to cover his mouth before he finished the second one.

"That's it, tell me now!" Uma demanded, listening closely for the footsteps she knew were coming.

But it was too late. In an instant, Uma's sword was thrown into the water and a pair of clawed hands pushed Uma off of Wes so hard that she rolled four yards away.

"I really don't like it when someone interrupts my hunting." Vivianne said to Uma as she helped Wes off the ground.

"Perfect timing, as usual." Wes said, brushing the dirt off his shirt. "My ring is in her pocket. Can you bring it to me so I can take care of this?"

When Vivianne saw Uma shoot up to her feet and grab a stick from the ground, she laughed. Her claws slid out as she said, "Do you think that's gonna stop me?"

Realizing it certainly wouldn't, Uma dropped the stick on the ground and decided she'd take an even bigger gamble. She took the ring from her pocket and put it on one of her fingers. The ring would certainly only work for Wes and his family members, but it _was_ magic. And something her mother had always warned her about magic was that-a lot of the time-it backfired. That's why Uma usually preferred a swordfight, where things were a lot more reliable. But, hopefully, when trying to use the ring backfired, there would be a useful effect.

 _Strike this girl, this cat's daughter;_ _make the air she breathes turn to saltwater_. Uma said in her head.

The ring glowed purple and Uma prepared for the worst. An explosion, turning into a bird, flying straight into a volcano. But, water just sprayed out of Vivianne's nose as she started coughing. Uma's eyes widened as she realized the spell worked. She looked at the ring and saw that the gem was shaped like a whorling shell...a nautilus shell.

 _Davey Jones' locker, the ocean blue;_ _Into that tree this catgirl flew._ Uma tried in her head. And, sure enough, it worked. Vivianne flew up into the air, flying straight into a tree with so much force that the tree splintered.

"The shell. It's in the ring." Uma said. Then she glared at Wes, "What did you do to it?"

"That wasn't me." Wes admitted.

"Well, I guess the situation could be worse." Uma said, a smirk appearing on her face as the gears in her head started turning. "Because _now_ I have your ring. I think it's time I return the favor you gave me when you stole my necklace."

Wes paled noticeably.

"But instead of leaving you trapped in a cave at the bottom of the ocean..." Uma paused, just to add duel to the fire that was Wes's fear. "I'll leave you and your little friend in _here."_ She cast a spell and a blue jewelry box appeared in her hands.

"Pardon?" Wes asked, raising an eyebrow.

Uma smiled before saying, " _With this spell, their form is mine to mold; decrease the size of their bodies tenfold_."

The ring glowed purple and the water in the lake stirred as Wes and Vivianne glowed bright purple, their forms shrinking until they were only seven inches tall.

" _From where they stand, they'll disappear; bring those two from there to here_." Uma said finally. Wes and Vivianne disappeared in a swirl of smoke, appearing again inside the open jewelry box. Uma waved down at them before closing the box and locking the clasp. She cast another spell and the box vanished. She turned around, ready to turn her legs into tentacles so she could swim into the lake, but she heard footsteps behind her. She instantly whirled around, raising her arms. Following the motion of her arms, two tentacles of water raised from the lake, ready to strike.

"Whoa." The person behind her-a boy around her age with pale skin, short brown hair and golden eyes-said, raising his hands yieldingly. "I'm not looking for any trouble."

 _Great, now I have to wipe his memory_. Uma thought.

"You don't have to wipe my mind, I won't tell anyone about you."

Uma clenched her hands into fists, ready to command the tentacles to attack.

"Before you drown me or whatever, don't you want to hear what I have to say? I think we could help each other."

Uma lowered her arms and the water lost its shape. "This better be good." She said.

"Let's start with an introduction." The boy said, smiling in a practiced yet charming way. He gave a playful bow. "My name's Carver. What's yours?"

"Uma. Now what was this about you being able to help me?"

"I suspect you have plans to bring down the barrier around the Isle. Wouldn't that be a lot easier if you had someone inside Auradon Prep to give you information.

Uma had been avoiding eye contact by looking at her nails this whole time-a surefire way to make someone desperate to earn your attention-but now she looked him directly in the eyes. "Consider me interested. Let's talk."


End file.
